THE Met Office has warned heavy rain is expected to disrupt more than two million return journeys at the end of the Easter weekend.
The forecaster said drier spells will turn cloudy with patchy rain for much of England and Wales on Sunday, before up to 15mm of more persistent and possibly thundery rain on Monday.
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The RAC and transport analysis company Inrix said 2.01 million leisure journeys will be made by car on Easter Monday.
The lengthiest delays are expected to be between 10am and 12pm, and drivers have been advised to wait until later in the day and travel in the evening.
An area of cloud in the North Sea will spill over into southeast England and push west towards Wales on Easter Sunday, the forecaster said.
This will lead to grey conditions and patchy rain across southern England, while the South West could see heavy showers.
Kathryn Chalk, meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “We’ll see further spells of heavy rain coming in, pushing its way northwards through Easter Monday.
“Probably a damp start, especially across Wales, central England and northeastern parts as well with further heavy spells of rain here.
“Further towards the south, if we do see any clouds breaking up we could see heavy showers again in the afternoon.”
The heaviest of the rain on Monday will likely be in a corridor from southwest England up to East Anglia, Ms Chalk said.
No weather warnings have been issued, but the showers could see between 5mm and 15mm of rainfall.
And the Environment Agency has issued 13 flood warnings and 122 alerts in the last 24 hours.
Roads, properties and farm land could be affected.
Scotland and Northern Ireland will hold on to much brighter spells with odd, scattered showers across both of the days.
The outlook will remain unsettled after the long weekend, with low pressure dominating and spells of heavy rain likely.
Tuesday is forecast to be a largely dry day with light winds, some scattered showers could break out in parts of the south, although confidence in weather details decreases significantly through the day.
Deputy chief metereologist, Dan Harris, said: “At present Tuesday looks mostly settled, between one area of low pressure responsible for Monday’s rain in the south or southeast, clearing to the east, and another low arriving from the southwest later.
“How quickly this second low and associated rain arrives is a significant point of uncertainty in the longer-range forecast.
“But it will herald a further spell through early April of unsettled weather focused particularly across southern areas; best chance of any more settled conditions, and probably colder conditions, will be across the north of the UK.”
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UK 5 day weather forecast
Today:
Most areas dry with sunny spells, though turning cloudier across central and eastern England with patchy rain and showers, with low cloud lingering across eastern coasts.
Showery rain affecting Cornwall later. Feeling warm in the sunshine further west.
Tonight:
Spells of rain, some heavy across southern, central and eastern England, pushing into Wales later.
Drier in Scotland and parts of Northern Ireland with clear spells and fog patches developing.
Monday:
Largely dry in the north with sunnier spells in the northwest. Cloudier elsewhere with rain, heavy at times pushing northwards.
Heavier showers developing in the south, though feeling rather warm.
Outlook for Tuesday to Thursday:
Largely unsettled and cloudy with showers and longer spells of rain on Tuesday and Wednesday, drier to the far north.
Further rain arriving from the west on Thursday. Average temperatures.
