Met Office names 154 UK areas facing 'very heavy rain' on Thursday - full list

Over the next few days the UK will see the first meaningful rain for a long time with Thursday bringing "frequent showers" to 154 areas.

Despite the well needed rain a forecaster has warned the precipitation is not going to solve the drought situation overnight".

According to Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern Wednesday is expected to be a very showery day across the UK, with Northern Ireland and areas in western and central Scotland seeing frequent showers with heavy downpours, hail and thunder.

In the south these showers will be fewer and further between, while central England and eastern Wales could still see some downpours, the forecaster added.

He said: I suspect many people across England and Wales will at least enjoy the feel of some rain falling out of the sky during the next few days, but its not going to solve the drought situation overnight because were not expecting huge amounts and it will be highly variable because a lot of it will come in the form of showers.

Alongside the drizzles on Wednesday, highs of 25C in London, 20C in Cardiff, 19C in Manchester and 16C in Glasgow are expected, according to the weather service.

Further rain is forecast on Thursday as "very heavy" downpours will begin across parts of northern England and north and west Wales with frequent showers in the southwest, Mr McGivern said.

That afternoon will bring a better chance of showers further south and dumping a reasonable amount of rain in places, he added.

But again, because theyre showers, it will be hit and miss, very speckled in nature, he said.

In the early hours light rain will fall in the South West, with Okehampton, Bath and Weston-super-Mare all expecting showers at around 6am.

At this time several areas in Wales will also see rainfall, including Swansea and Merthyr Tydfil.

As the day continues heavier rain will fall in the north, as a thick band of rain is expected to drench from Chester to Harrogate at around 11am.

By 1pm much of Yorkshire will have experienced heavy showers with Leeds, York and Wakefield turning a deep blue according to Met Office weather maps.

In the afternoon, rain will continue to fall in the North as Manchester is forecast showers.

On the South Coast showers are also expected, with Brighton and Bournemouth forecast drizzle at around 3pm.

Rain will spread further south as the evening continues with the Midlands also welcoming downpours.

The weather maps show Lincoln, Derby and Nottingham to be drenched by 6pm.

Although many areas in the south will see light showers as the Met Office states the heaviest rain is forecast in the north of England, illustrated with dark blue shading on the map.

Into the night, much of Wales will have also seen rain.

Full list of areas forecast rain:

1. St Austell
2. Okehampton
3. Bath
4. Weston-super-Mare
5. Swansea
6. Pontypridd
7. Merthyr Tydfil
8. Llandeilo
9. Llandovery
10. Machynlleth
11. Barmouth
12. Llanwddyn
13. Blaenau Ffestiniog
14. Ruthin
15. St Asaph
16. Chester
17. Blackpool
18. Skipton
19. Harrogate
20. High Bentham
21. Leyburn
22. Hawes
23. Northallerton
24. Workington
25. Sunderland
26. Hexham
27. Langholm
28. Dumfries
29. Whithorn
30. Newton Stewart
31. Moffat
32. Ayr
33. Cumnock
34. Sanquhar
35. Duns
36. Crieff
37. Auchtermuchty
38. St Andrews
39. Dundee
40. Arbroath
41. Brechin
42. Bridge of Dye
43. Aberlour
44. Laxford bridge
45. Truro
46. Falmouth
47. Tiverton
48. Lynton
49. Swindon
50. Bristol
51. Dursley
52. Cardiff
53. Gloucester
54. Evesham
55. Market Drayton
56. Stafford
57. Stoke-on-Trent
58. Northwich
59. Liverpool
60. Preston
61. Burnley
62. Leeds
63. Malton
64. Thirst
65. Pickering
66. Ripon
67. Ambleside
68. Ireby
69. Larkhall
70. Lauder
71. Kingussie
72. Kinbrace
73. Dalganachan
74. Craigtown
75. Forres
76. Banff
77. Brough
78. Seascale
79. Scarborough
80. York
81. Wakefield
82. Goole
83. Hull
84. Lancaster
85. Wigan
86. Manchester
87. Rochdale
88. Doncaster
89. Mansfield
90. Matlock
91. Ashbourne
92. Newtown
93. Oxford
94. Devizes
95. Foxham
96. Grantham
97. Horncastle
98. Chesterfield
99. Sheffield
100. Warrington
101. Flint
102. Bolton
103. Colwyn Bay
104. Porthmadog
105. Birmingham
106. Tregaron
107. Aylesbury
108. High Wycombe
109. Saffron Walden
110. Worthing
111. Brighton
112. Plymouth
113. Salcombe
114. Grimsby
115. Kendal
116. Whitby
117. Hartlepool
118. Stanhope
119. Alston
120. Newcastle upon Tyne
121. Rochester
122. Aberdeen
123. Craigtown
124. Thurso
125. Middlesbrough
126. Penrith
127. Bradford
128. Gainsborough
129. Mablethorpe
130. Macclesfield
131. Southport
132. Wolverhampton
133. Burry Port
134. Launceston
135. Eastbourne
136. Hastings
137. Lincoln
138. Derby
139. Nottingham
140. Bridgnorth
141. Boston
142. Skegness
143. Cambridge
144. Shrewsbury
145. Cardigan
146. Fishguard
147. Chepstow
148. Newbury
149. Slough
150. Epsom
151. Chichester
152. Bournemouth
153. Swanage
154. Honiton

Temperatures are also set to be below average for a large part of the UK on Thursday, which is something weve seen on only a handful of days this summer, the forecaster continued.

The rainfall comes after a hosepipe ban began for all of Wessex Waters 1.4 million customers across areas in Bath, Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire on Tuesday.

It is the first ban the company has put in place for 50 years, since the summer of 1976.

More than 27 million people across England have now had hosepipe use restricted in their area after months of hot and dry weather.

The cooler and wetter conditions come after the UKs fifth heatwave of the summer, during which the hottest day of the year was recorded in Kew Gardens, London, on Thursday when temperature reached 38.1C.