Another storm is coming - Gertrude - but it is expected to miss the UK and hit France next week. Rain on New Year’s Day is not expected to cause further flooding.

Graham Madge, a Met Office spokesman, said: “We have picked another weather system up but we don’t think at the moment it’s necessarily going to cause any problem for the UK.



“The prediction is that it’s going to France, although we’re watching it form well off the west coast of Ireland but the track looks like it will go much further south where it won’t be a problem.”



The new weather front - a depression bringing heavy rain and high-speed winds - has not yet developed in the Atlantic but is expected to reach northern France by Tuesday next week, Madge said.

Wintery showers, some heavy, are expected across the north of England on New Years Day with clouds and rain spreading south-west throughout the afternoon. Large swathes of the country - from Cornwall to Wales and Northern Ireland - will be hit by brief downpours in the afternoon before further showers hang over Kent, Lincolnshire and the east coast by early evening. Lower level showers are also expected in Scotland.



Despite the unremitting downpours, forecasters say the New Year’s Day rain should not cause further flooding however some areas remain at risk from swollen rivers responding to rainfall over the past 48 hours.

