Met Office issues 'danger to life' warning as Brits face washout weekend

A 'danger to life' warning has been issued ahead of a weekend of heavy rain across Britain.

The Met Office has updated its forecast to include an amber level alert for one part of the UK, while others already face yellow warnings for an oncoming deluge. The amber alert covers Glasgow and West Scotland, coming into force from 3pm on Saturday until early Sunday morning.

Forecasters have warned Scots in the area to expect flooding to homes and businesses which could pose a threat to people's safety, as well as severe travel disruption and the possibility of power cuts. "Prolonged heavy rain is expected to lead to widespread disruption," a spokesperson said.

Most of the rest of Scotland - with the exception of the northern Highlands and South Scotland - and Lancashire meanwhile both face a yellow level warning throughout the weekend from midnight through to Sunday morning for "heavy and persistent rain". It comes as new weather maps on WX Charts show a huge wall of rain heading towards the north of the UK.

Glasgow faces an onslaught of wet weather on Saturday (Met Office)

A spokesperson for the Met Office said: "Rain is expected to develop across many parts of Scotland during Friday afternoon but is likely to persist through much of Saturday into Sunday morning before gradually easing. There remains some uncertainty in the longevity and amount of rainfall, particularly across northeast Scotland and eastern portions of the Central Belt.

Gales, snow and rain to batter country today with 80mph wind gusts

"However, there is an increasing likelihood of some low lying areas seeing 50-75 mm of rain whilst over higher ground 100-150 mm is possible, perhaps in excess of this in a few locations across western Scotland."