Dig out your woolly socks… and your umbrella! Britain braces for a cold and frosty night with freezing fog and temperatures plunging to -1C before Met Office warning for torrential downpours kicks in with more than a week’s rain to fall in 24 hours

• England and Northern Ireland wake up to fog patches with cloudy and wet conditions over most of Britain 
• Cold snap will see frosty start to the week tomorrow, with weather warnings predicting heavy rain in Scotland
• Weather is expected to remain ‘rather cold and unsettled,’ as next week stretches on with frost overnight
• Environment Agency has 31 flood alerts warning residents in the south east, midlands and the north west  

Britain is bracing for a cold and frosty night with freezing fog predicted and temperatures expected to plunge ahead of a weather warning for torrential downpours.

Large parts of England and Northern Ireland awoke to fog this morning, while others in Essex are still dealing floodwater after heavy downpours continued since Friday.

Last night saw temperatures drop in below freezing in East Malling, Kent, to -1.6C, with similar temperatures forecast in Manchester tonight.

Temperatures reached highs of just 10C yesterday, with the weather expected to remain cold and frosty heading into next week.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning as heavy rain has been forecast for parts of Scotland. 

Parts of England and Northern Ireland awoke to fog this morning, including in the Cotswolds. Cloudy conditions are expected to last well-into next week with rain and frost also set to continue

Flooding is still causing disruption in Danbury, Chelmsford in Essex, today after torrential downpours caused major disruption

Up to 50mm of rain is expected to fall between 6pm on Monday and 9pm on Tuesday.

Announcing the warning on Sunday morning, The Met Office said: ‘An area of persistent and heavy rain will spread in from the east on Monday evening, lasting much of the night before turning showery on Tuesday. 20-30 mm will fall quite widely across the area with some hilly areas possibly catching 40-50 mm. 

‘Further showers through the day could bring another 10-15 mm in places. With the ground already saturated this is likely to lead to flooding in a few areas.’

The Environment Agency currently has flood alerts covering 31 different areas covering the south-east, the Midlands and the north west.

Temperatures dropped to as low as -1C in East Malling, Kent, on Saturday, with similar temperatures forecast overnight

It warns homes and businesses could be flooded, while water on the roads could cause disruption to journey times. 

Elsewhere in the country the Met Office expects Monday to be ‘cold and frosty for many,’ with freezing fog patches developing over parts of Northern Ireland as well as eastern, southern and central England.

Its forecast for the rest of the week reads: ‘Remaining rather cold and unsettled with wind and heavy rain in the north at first becoming a mix of variable cloud, sunny spells and coastal showers. Frost in places overnight.’

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