Nasa has captured incredible satellite imagery of Storm Babet as the UK and Ireland braces for its arrival.
The view from space showed the storm on Monday as it made its way steadily towards Spain and Portugal, before being forecast to turn northwards towards the UK.
Babet is predicted brings bands of heavy rain and strong winds from midweek, with Met Office weather alertsissued.
Its warning of ‘very wet weather’ comes into effect at 9pm on Wednesday, and will last throughout Thursday and Friday until 6am on Saturday.
The alert covers most of southern Scotland, including Arran and the Kintyre peninsula, eastern Northern Ireland and much of the east of England as far south as Ipswich.
‘Storm Babet will bring impactful rain to many parts of the UK, but especially parts of eastern Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England later this week,’ said Steven Keates, deputy chief meteorologist for the agency.
‘Heavy and persistent rain will fall onto already saturated ground bringing a risk of flooding. It is important to stay up to date with warnings from your local flood warning agency as well as the local authorities.
‘As well as heavy rain, Storm Babet will bring some very strong winds and large waves near some eastern coasts too. Gusts in excess of 60mph are possible in eastern and northern Scotland from Thursday.
‘It is likely Met Office warnings will be updated through the week.’
The incredible God’s-eye view of the incoming storm was made possible by Nasa’s Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS).
The satellite imagery is available within three hours of observation – essentially showing the entire Earth as it looks ‘right now’.
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