Met Office hour-by-hour weather maps show where heaviest rain will fall in Wales. For the New Year period there will be a combination of heavy rain, strong winds, and some snow featured in the UK forecast.
An amber weather warning for rain in Scotland is in place while there is a 24-hour warning for rain in place for parts of Wales between 6pm on New Year’s Eve and 6pm on New Year’s Day with parts of north Wales expected to see the heaviest rain.
Met Office chief meteorologist Steve Willington explained that “a series of low-pressure systems will track across the UK over the next couple of days bringing some potentially disruptive weather”. With that in mind we’ve taken a look at the Met Office weather maps to see where the heaviest rain will fall in Wales during the New year period. For the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox sign up to our newsletter.
Tuesday, December 31 (New Year’s Eve)
12pm
(Image: Met Office)
Most of the south Wales area will be dry and clear at this point but large parts of north Wales will be covered in rain that has travelled across the Irish Sea. It will be at its heaviest in parts of Eryri national park and the Conwy valley with as much as 4-8mm/hour of rainfall in Blaenau Ffestiniog in Gwynedd. There will be a small patch of light rain in the Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion area affecting places such as Llangolman.
2pm
(Image: Met Office)
By early afternoon the rain will have spread further in covering large parts of Anglesey, Gwynedd, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, and Wrexham in the north as well as down to Powys, Ceredigion, northern parts of Pembrokeshire, and to the southeast valleys towards Pontypridd. Heavy rain will be affecting parts of north Wales once again. The heaviest will be in the inland areas of Gwynedd and Conwy with as much as 8-16mm/hour of rainfall in some of these parts.
4pm
(Image: Met Office)
By 4pm the rain will have cleared for Anglesey, Cardiff, Monmouthshire, and the Vale of Glamorgan but will persist in other counties. The rain will be at its heaviest in parts of Carmarthenshire, Powys, Ceredigion, and Gwynedd with as much as 4-8mm/hour of rainfall for some areas.
6pm
(Image: Met Office)
As the weather warning comes in most of Wales will be shrouded in rain. It will be at its heaviest, with as much as 8-16mm/hour of rainfall, in the area just outside of Bangor in Gwynedd as well as in the area near Machynlleth in Powys. In south Wales there could be as much as 4-8mm/hour of rainfall for places such as Merthyr Tydfil, Pontypridd, and Maesteg. Meanwhile the wind gust maximum could reach as much 57mph in some parts of Wales with the west Wales coastline from Pembrokeshire to southern Gwynedd getting particularly strong winds at this point.
8pm
(Image: Met Office)
By 8pm there will be patches of heavy rain in various parts of Wales. 4-8mm/hour of rainfall is expected in areas of Gwynedd, Ceredigion, Powys, and Carmarthenshire.
10pm
(Image: Met Office)
Later in the evening the rain will have shifted to the north of the country, leaving large parts of the south and southwest of Wales dry and clear. There could be as much as 8-16mm/hour of rainfall in places such as Blaenau Ffestiniog in Gwynedd.
Wednesday, January 1 (New Year’s Day)
2am
(Image: Met Office)
Throughout Tuesday evening and into the early hours of Wednesday morning the rain will persist for most parts of north and mid Wales. A long, thin band of heavy rain – as much as 8-16mm/hour of rainfall – will have developed, travelling from the Irish Sea and reaching Porthmadog in Gwynedd and moving all along the inland areas of the north before reaching Flint in Flintshire and continuing to the Merseyside area across the border.
4am
(Image: Met Office)
That band of rain will have shifted further south, stretching from Ceredigion over to Wrexham. There could be as much as 16-32mm/hour of rainfall near Cardigan Bay, just north of Aberystwyth.
6am
(Image: Met Office)
Most of Wales will be hit by rain though parts of Cardiff, the Vale of Glamorgan, and Monmouthshire will remain largely dry. It will be at its heaviest just off the coast of southern Pembrokeshire with as much as 16-32mm/hour of rainfall.
9am
(Image: Met Office)
The rain will be shifting more towards the south with as much as 2-4mm/hour of rainfall hitting Cardiff, Swansea, and Merthyr Tydfil.
11am
(Image: Met Office)
The rain will start to clear in the north but will persist in the south.
1pm
(Image: Met Office)
By the afternoon parts of north Wales could see patches of light rain while most of south Wales will be covered in rain. There could be as much as 2-4mm/hour of rainfall for areas such as Pontypridd.
5pm
(Image: Met Office)
As the rain travels to southern parts of the UK most of south Wales will remain dry. A cluster of rain will have former in the northern parts of Wales.
7pm
(Image: Met Office)
By the evening patches of rain will be hitting various parts of Wales but mainly in the inland areas of the north.
9pm
(Image: Met Office)
By 9pm most of Wales will be dry with only small patches off rain off the coast of southern part of Ceredigion.
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