Weather maps turn orange as 800-mile Atlantic storm wallops almost every corner of UK

Millions of Britons are set to be drenched by rain in just days with only a few areas spared from a heavy downpour, new weather maps show.

Forecast data collected by wxcharts.com shows an ominous blob of precipitation hanging over the British Isles on Sunday (October 6).

A large area of southern England is set to be pasted with as much as 1 and 2 mm per hour, while a concentrated area including Southampton could see in excess of 5mm per hour.

Major cities including Birmingham are expected to get around 2.5mm per hour, while London is facing between 0.4 and into 0.6mm per hour.

The southern side of Northern Ireland, including Belfast, is also bracing for upwards of 1-2mm per hour, with some indication that it could be higher on the south coast.

Some places could be drier, in areas including the tip of the southwest coast, and parts of Norfolk. Large stretches of the North of England, including Newcastle and into Scotland, aren't forecast for the buckets of rain seen elsewhere, according to the maps.

However, parts of Scotland will be affected, among them is Edinburgh which is expected to get between 0.2 and 0.6mm of precipitation per hour, and the Highlands and around the Outer Hebrides.

Areas around Dumfries and Galloway could also be in for lashings of at least 4mm of rain per hour, according to the maps.

Wales won't be spared the gloomy conditions either, with areas including the capital Cardiff expected to get in the region of 0.6mm.

A yellow weather warning for rain began at 6am covering a large area including Cambridge, Peterborough and Milton Keynes.

The Met Office alert warns that: "An area of rain is expected to develop later this morning across the north of the warning area, before spreading south, whilst turning heavy in places.

"Much of the warning area will see 15-20 mm of rain, with a few places seeing 30-40 mm. Whilst these totals are not unusual for the time of year, given recent very wet weather some impacts and disruption are more likely than normal.

"Rain will ease across the north of the warning area through early afternoon, before clearing the south of the warning area by Tuesday evening."

The following regions and local authorities are affected:

East Midlands

• Leicester
• Leicestershire
• Lincolnshire
• Northamptonshire
• Nottinghamshire
• Rutland

East of England

• Bedford
• Cambridgeshire
• Central Bedfordshire
• Essex
• Hertfordshire
• Luton
• Norfolk
• Peterborough
• Suffolk

London & South East England

• Buckinghamshire
• Milton Keynes
• Oxfordshire

You can find the latest information, including flooding advice here.

The Met Office's three-day forecast suggests today will remain cloudy and windy across eastern England. It's forecast to stay wet here and turn heavy again through the morning before easing into the later afternoon.

Elsewhere will be largely dry with some bright spells developing, with temps near normal but "rather cold" in the east, according to the national weather agency

Tonight, low cloudy and patchy rain and drizzle is forecast across central and eastern England, slowly clearing southeastwards. Clear spells are predicted across Scotland and Northern Ireland with isolated frost.

Tomorrow, any rain and low cloud in the southeast will slowly lift and turn showery into the afternoon. Elsewhere, its expected to be drier with sunny spells with temperatures around the seasonal average.

The outlook for Thursday to Saturday is dry with plenty of sunny spells on Thursday and Friday and feeling warn in light winds. Rain is expected to return from the west into the weekend with stronger winds.