The Met Office has issued “danger to life” warnings with Britain set to be hit by 36 hours of torrential rain.

Downpours are expected to arrive across parts of the UK at the end of the week, bringing flooding and disruption to driving conditions and public transport.

Weather warnings for rain are in force from 12pm on Friday to midnight on Saturday for much of northern England and Wales, where up to 4in (100mm) of rain could fall.

Met Office forecaster Emma Smith told The Independent: “We’ve got wet and windy weather in the north as we go through the rest of Tuesday and we will be getting some strengthening winds.

“We could be getting gale-force winds Tuesday night and Wednesday into the end of the week.

Photographers stories of capturing extreme weather Show all 8 1 /8 Photographers stories of capturing extreme weather Photographers stories of capturing extreme weather "I stumbled on the firefighter in front of the burning home on the second day of the Camp Fire in a town called Magalia which is about five miles from Paradise, California. There were about five or six homes burning and firefighters were trying to save the houses near to those that were on fire. The heat from the fire was so intense that the firefighter could only stand near the burning building for 10-15 seconds before having to move away" - Justin Sullivan Getty Photographers stories of capturing extreme weather "This was only one of several large-scale forest fires in Brandenburg state in Germany last year, following droughts which left the forests in the region extremely dry. The year set a new record for fires that burned over 400 hectares. As a photojournalist covering the region for over 15 years, I now have to assume either drought or floods will very likely be a part of the news we will be covering every summer" - Sean Gallup Getty Photographers stories of capturing extreme weather "This photograph was taken at a sunflower field at Goersdorf near Golssen in Germany. The farmers in the region are really despairing. In the years before many faced floods, in 2018 it was scorching heat. Many grow crops that are meant to feed their cows, so when the crops fail they need to buy feed. With the price of milk so low many are fearing for their economic survival if weather cycles like this continue" - Sean Gallup Getty Photographers stories of capturing extreme weather "On the third day of the Camp Fire the flames had moved away from the town and were burning in the nearby hills. I captured this photo in Big Bend, as the story was shifting away from the fire itself and focusing on trying to locate missing persons and recover remains of those who had perished" - Justin Sullivan Getty Photographers stories of capturing extreme weather "You can see the Belchatow power plant and the rising steam and smoke from over 20km away. I went there the day before the start of the United Nations’ climate conference in Katowice, which took place in a region where coal has a long history and coal mining is woven into local tradition. Poland has made some strides with renewables, such as with wind turbines that now dot portions of the western Polish countryside. However, given how heavily Poland still relies on coal, it is unlikely that Belchatow will close anytime soon. According to a recent study by the European Commission Belchatow is Europe’s biggest single emitter of CO2" - Sean Gallup Getty Photographers stories of capturing extreme weather "I stayed the night at an alpine hut near the Waxeggkees glacier in Austria. An employee I talked to at night said, sometimes (this was August) she heard the sounds of ice breaking off the glacier and crashing across rocks. 100 years ago the glacier would have filled the photo. Now it takes over an hour to walk up to where the glacier begins" - Sean Gallup, photographer Getty Images Photographers stories of capturing extreme weather "I came across Mr. Helmut Kujat, 78, by chance after I photographed a parched farm nearby. He’s actually pouring the water into a tube that helps to better let the water reach the roots of the tree. He waters the trees in front of his house almost daily throughout spring and summer due to droughts and heat waves" - Sean Gallup Getty Photographers stories of capturing extreme weather "I took this photo about a week after the Camp Fire tore through the town of Paradise, California in November last year. It was the first opportunity to use a DJI Mavic Pro 2 drone to view the widespread devastation since the air space around the burn zone had been closed" - Justin Sullivan Getty

“Through Wednesday that rain in the north starts to sink southwards slowly.”

Ms Smith added much of Thursday will bring a “respite” for most places – although it will remain windy in the north with a few showers.

Heavy rainfall will then hit many parts of Wales, the Pennines and the Lake District on Friday, while other places will see sunny spells with outbreaks of rain.

“Really today [Tuesday] will be our last really nice day across the country and it’s quite an unsettled week,” said Ms Smith.

“In the warning area we could see 40-60mm of rain at ground levels, but up to 100mm in the higher ground in the Welsh mountains, Pennines and Lake District.

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“We could see quite a lot of surface spray on the road and poor conditions for driving.

“People will have to make time for their journey and there could be delays to transport as well.”

Temperatures on Wednesday are expected to reach highs of 14C to 15C in the South and 12C to 13C in northern areas.

Highs will be around 15C to 16C on Thursday, however it will turn chillier in Scotland and Northern Ireland on Friday with top temperatures of 9C to 10C.