UK weather: Met Office map shows exact date massive band of rain will sweep across Britain – and it’s going to get worse

A MASSIVE band of rain is set to sweep across the UK in the coming days, a new Met Office map has revealed.

Forecasters are expecting the wave of wet weather to blanket the country, with heavy downpours soaking some parts.

The heaviest rain is expected in the South East, with up to 16mm falling per hour early on Thursday morning.

London, Norwich, Brighton and Dover are all due to be drenched, while almost all other areas of the country will see at least some rainfall.

The cause is a swirling stream of unsettled weather that is barreling in from the West.

The Met Office is predicting that it will hit Northern Ireland tomorrow morning, before moving over Wales and the South West in the afternoon.

By the early hours of Thursday, almost the entire UK is forecast to be affected, with only parts of northern Scotland escaping the showers.

The Environment Agency has four active flood alerts, meaning that flooding is "possible".

These cover parts of Lancashire, Yorkshire, Merseyside and Wiltshire.

Fortunately, the weather front is set to blow through quite quickly, clearing for most by Thursday evening, when only some scattered showers are expected to remain.

The Met's forecast going into the weekend reads: "Rain clearing to sunshine and showers on Thursday.

"Mostly dry and bright on Friday, with a few showers.

"Heavy showers likely on Saturday. Feeling warm in the sunshine."

And conditions are predicted to remain "unsettled" going into August, according to the Met's long-range forecast.

There are likely to be "widespread showers", with the heaviest in the North, well into the first week of next month.

Strong winds could also affect coastal areas, though some sunny spells in the South East could start to emerge going forward.