UK weather: Massive deluge of rain sparks danger to life warnings TODAY with five days of storms ahead before snow hits

"DANGER to life" warnings have been issued today as a massive deluge of rain is set to fall and batter Britain for five days.

The "heavy and persistent" downpours are expected from 3pm today with yellow and amber flood alerts for the North.

Flooding is "expected" in the Lake District and south west Scotland with a risk of homes and businesses being flooded and damaged.

Disruption and travel chaos is expected across the region with the warnings in place from today until just before midnight on Friday.

These stretch from south west Scotland and north west England to western Wales and warn of "fast flowing" and "deep" flood water in homes and businesses.

Public transport could be shut down in some areas while the Met Office also warns there is a chance "that some communities will become cut off" entirely by the water levels.

Two flood warnings and 15 flood alerts are in place for England, while Scotland has one and four in place respectively.

Six inches (160mm) will fall in parts today, and up to eight inches (200mm) is expected on Thursday and Friday.

That amounts to as much as a month's worth of rain in under 24 hours.

Gale force winds will accompany the deluge causing half-term chaos for families across the UK - though temperatures will remain mild for the time of year.

And the showers and high winds will continue into the weekend, with the wet weather coming to end on Sunday night.

But while early next week may provide some respite, WX weather charts show a rise in the likelihood of snow across parts of Scotland on November 3.

Snow remains a risk until next Thursday - when heavy rain and high winds move in once again.

Met Office meteorologist Luke Miall said: "Autumn is very much with us across the UK through this week, turning a lot more unsettled over the next few days.

"Through Wednesday morning the rain will turn more persistent for parts of Northern Ireland but especially southwest Scotland and Cumbria.

"We have a weather warning in place and we could see a large amount of rain building up through the course of Wednesday and into Thursday with a risk of flooding and some pretty tricky travelling conditions.

"Highs of 18C though, very very mild for this stage of the year.

"This wet weather will gradually trickle a little further southwards into north Wales and perhaps the north west Midlands as we go into Thursday.

"Quite strong winds as well, so we will continue to see some quite disruptive rainfall at times."