Image source, PA Media

By Aoife Walsh

BBC News

Parts of the UK are poised for heavy rain and flooding over the next few days ahead of the arrival of Storm Ciarán later this week.

Flood warnings are in place across parts of England, Scotland and Wales, while there are also yellow rain warnings for some of Northern Ireland.

Ciarán is set to bring strong winds and heavy rain to southern England and Wales when it arrives on Thursday.

It comes after a number of areas in the UK faced flooding over the weekend.

Forecasters warned that saturated ground conditions caused by the persistent wet weather will increase the risk of flooding.

The Environment Agency urged the public to take care on coastal paths and promenades.

The agency also advised against driving through flood water, saying that just 30cm (11.8 inches) of flowing water was enough to move a car.

Met Office Deputy chief meteorologist Chris Almond said winds brought by Storm Ciarán are "likely to gust to 80mph along the south coast of England, with a small risk of somewhere exposed seeing 90 mph, and winds could even gust up to 50 or 60 mph further inland".