UK weather horror as 1,344-mile wall of rain forecast with 7 days worth falling in 3 hours

Britain is braced for a dramatic deluge next week as a powerful rainstorm barrels across the country - bringing downpours of up to 1cm an hour to a number of areas.

The storm is due to hit in the early hours of Friday, October 3, unleashing torrential rain on swathes of the UK. It's due to kick off at midnight, when the first heavy showers strike the Scottish Highlands, Dumfries and Galloway and even parts of Edinburgh.

Rain will also drench Inverness, Aberdeen and Newcastle, while Manchester will see early downpours too. Much of the south, however, will stay dry in the opening hours of the storm.

According to advanced weather modelling maps from Ventusky, between 1pm-4pm on Friday, a 1,344-mile wall of rain is set to drench the north west coast of Ireland, which will see 21mm of rainfall in just three hours.

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The UK's average rainfall in September is 91mm. The storm's arrival comes after warnings from the Met Office, which has already said that the turn of the month will bring showers and longer spells of rain for all areas at times, with the heaviest bursts focused on the north-west.

Its long-range forecast, from September 28 to October 7, reads: "Following a more unsettled weekend with a spell of rain across some areas, a return to drier conditions is likely for many parts by the start of next week.

"Around the turn of the month, while showers or longer spells of rain are possible for all areas at times, the wettest weather is likely to be focused on the northwest of the country. Any spells of windier weather are more likely in the northwest too.

"Elsewhere, there is a better chance of more prolonged fine and dry weather along with morning mist and fog patches in places. Temperatures generally around average. Uncertainty then increases during early October but a similar pattern is most likely to persist across the country."

It comes as remnants of a 140mph hurricane hurtling towards Europe are likely to cause downpours across the UK in the coming days, forecasters warn.

Hurricane Gabrielle is now a Category 4 hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean as meteorologists believe it has the strength to cause "catastrophic damage". It is tracked to move at speed towards Europe, notably Portugal's Azores, where residents have been warned to take measures to limit any destruction.

The hurricane is not expected to cause primary damageacross the UK but the remnants of it will lead to a wet and windy weekend, it is thought. Nick Finnis, meteorologist at Netweather, wrote on its blog: "It (Hurricane Gabrielle) passes east of Bermuda, before it moves towards western Europe by the weekend, injecting some tropical energy into the jet stream and heralding a return of more unsettled conditions."

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