Met Office Yellow Weather Warning for rain issued for Berkshire

Berkshire and surrounding areas are set to see heavy rainfall in the run-up to Christmas.

The Met Office have issued a yellow weather warning for rain across the county - as well as surrounding areas including South Buckinghamshire and South Oxfordshire.

The warning is in force from 6am on Wednesday morning, December 23, until 6am on Christmas Eve, December 24.

The Met Office warning states: "Heavy rainfall may lead to flooding in places and disruption to travel.

"Spells of heavy rain are expected across southern England and parts of south Wales during Wednesday and into early Thursday. The heaviest rain is likely to develop during Wednesday evening and continue overnight before clearing away to the southeast by Thursday morning.

"Much of the area is likely to see 20-40 mm through this period. There is still some uncertainty in exactly where the heaviest rain will fall but there is the potential for some places to see as much as 50-70 mm of rain.

"The heavy rain will be accompanied by strong north to northeasterly winds during Wednesday evening and overnight."

Reading Borough Council have also asked people to take care on the roads.

The council said: "There are weather warnings in place from the Met Office - heavy rain is due on Wednesday and Christmas Eve. Take care on the roads as there will be lots of surface spray. Stay Weather Aware."

An Environment Agency flood alert is in force for the River Lodden in Berkshire.

The alert, which means flooding is possible, states: "River levels are high but beginning to fall on the River Loddon as a result of recent rainfall in the area. Therefore, flooding of low lying roads and farmland remains possible today.

"Light rainfall is forecast over the next 24 hours with dry patches. We expect river levels to continue to slowly fall today 21/12/20 and are closely monitoring the situation."