There is “no end in sight to the rain”, forecasters have warned, despite downpours having lashed Britain every day in 2026.
A yellow rain warning is in force for the West Midlands, and parts of the south of England and Wales, running until 9pm on Friday.
Homes and businesses could flood, power supplies could be affected, and some surface water flooding is likely because of the widely saturated ground, the Met Office said.
South West England and South Wales have faced 50% more rainfall than is usual for January, with rain every day of the year so far.
Overall, England received 150% of its long-term average rainfall last month, according to the Environment Agency (EA), with the South West region seeing 184% of the long term average rainfall in January.
In just the first three days of this month, the South East had received 32% of the long-term average rainfall for February, the EA said.
Rainfall totals varied from 13mm in England’s east to 43mm in the South West for the week from 28 January to 3 February, the agency added.
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And forecasters predict that the rain will still be falling daily in those areas by Sunday.
“Unfortunately, there’s no end in sight,” said Dan Stroud, operational meteorologist with the Met Office.
Another band of rain in the South West will travel northwards on Friday with heavy bursts, he added.
And it is more of the same on Saturday, with heavy showers lashing the south in the morning, before gradually pushing up into Wales and the Midlands.
The southern and western parts of the UK will see yet another band of rain arrive on Sunday, it is predicted, though it should be slightly drier elsewhere.
Check the forecast for your area
Northern Ireland is also subject to a yellow rain warning until midnight on Friday.
While in Scotland, persistent cloud and rain will continue to affect the east of the country, including Aberdeen.
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The city has seen no sunshine for two weeks – a record-setting period of gloom unrivalled in the area since records began in 1957.
Yet parts of East Anglia, the South East and perhaps west Scotland could see some brightness breaking through on Saturday.
Mr Stroud said: “Very little in the way of change, and the reason for it really is that we’ve got a big area of high pressure way out to the far north and east of the country, and that’s stopping areas of low pressure from moving through.
“Until that area of high pressure sort of shifts out of the way, we’re not really going to see much of a change in the forecast.
“At the same time, we’ve got the jet stream way to the south, bringing exceptional wet weather to Spain and Portugal.”
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According to the yellow warning covering South West England and parts of Wales, up to 50mm of rain is predicted in higher places, with downpours of 30mm being widespread.
Higher places in Northern Ireland could face up to 80mm of rain, but 20mm is expected in the majority of places.
