A yellow warning for rain is set to come into force on Good Friday, marking a damp start to the Easter bank holiday weekend.
The Met Office alert for a “prolonged spell of rain” will come into effect at 6pm in south-west England, meaning difficult driving conditions with some disruption to travel likely.
The warning, affecting Cornwall, Devon, Plymouth and Torbay, is in place through to Saturday at 9am during which up to 75mm of rain could fall.
⚠️ Yellow weather warning issued ⚠️
— Met Office (@metoffice) April 17, 2025
Heavy rain across southwest England accompanied by stronger winds
Friday 1800 – Saturday 0900
Latest info 👉 https://t.co/QwDLMfRBfs
Stay #WeatherAware⚠️ pic.twitter.com/W9ZZDKW87P
Residents have been advised by the forecaster that flooding of some homes and businesses is possible, along with longer journey times for travellers.
The downpours may also be accompanied by “windy” conditions, the Met Office added.
This comes after a flood warning was issued earlier this week in Devon following a night of heavy rain in the county.
Met Office meteorologist Honor Criswick said: “There is more rain on its way, leading to quite a damp start for the Easter bank holiday weekend.”
Parts of Devon, Cornwall, Northern Ireland and Wales could experience outbreaks of rain overnight and into the morning.
“Elsewhere in the West it’s going to be a damp start, and through the course of Good Friday we’ll see this area of cloud and rain shift its way northeastwards,” Ms Criswick went on.
“Once again, we could see some quite heavy and blustery outbreaks at times, some quite persistent rain, possibly leading to some travel disruption, possibly even seeing some surface level flooding as well.
“But across the far north and far east it’s going to be quite a pleasant day, perhaps more cloud around than of late, but some sunnier spells across East Anglia for example, but it is going to be remaining largely dry, fairly mild too across the far south east, highs of 17 possibly 18C.”
Ms Criswick said it will be “quite a wet start for many” on Saturday but that the rain is expected to fizzle out over the morning before a “largely dry” Easter Sunday.
“There should be plenty of sunny spells around,” she added. “Good news if you’re heading out for an Easter egg hunt.”
Mark Garratt, flood duty manager at the Environment Agency, said: “Heavy rain and showers mean that minor surface water flooding is probable across parts of south-west England on Friday and into Saturday.
“Environment Agency teams will be out on the ground and supporting local authorities in responding to surface water flooding.
“We urge people not to drive through floodwater – it is often deeper than it looks and just 30cm of flowing water is enough to float your car.”
People are able to sign up for flood alerts on the Government website and keep up to date through following @EnvAgency on X, he advised.
Tourism authority VisitEngland estimates that around 10.6 million British adults are planning to take a holiday in the UK over the bank holiday period.
As holidaymakers prepare for the long weekend, train passengers have been warned about disruption as Network Rail prepares to begin engineering work.
The Government-owned company said it will carry out work on more than 300 projects across Britain between Good Friday and Bank Holiday Monday, causing a number of lines to be closed.
The most significant impact will be at London Euston – the UK’s 10th busiest railway station – which will have no services to or from Milton Keynes on Saturday and Easter Sunday, and a reduced timetable on Good Friday and Monday.
That is because of work including renewals of overhead electric lines and drainage improvements.
Meanwhile, travel trade organisation Abta said approximately 2.2 million Britons will head overseas during the long weekend, with Good Friday being the busiest day for travel.
