STORM Babet will slam into Britain today – bringing with it 70mph gales and eight inches of rain.
The Met Office say the weather event will last until Sunday and have issued a rare amber danger to life warning.
The severe weather threat is for rain, where it is feared up to 20cm (7.9in) could fall in eastern Scotland.
The most serious warning is in place from 6am on Thursday to 6pm on Friday.
The storm is expected to make landfall in the south west and Northern Ireland by late morning before gradually moving across the country in the coming days.
Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist Tony Wardle said: "Heavy and persistent rain will fall onto already saturated ground bringing a risk of flooding.
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"There is a chance that communities in flooded areas could be completely cut off, perhaps for several days
"As well as heavy rain, Storm Babet will bring some very strong winds and large waves near some eastern coasts too."
The Met Office has updated and expanded a yellow warning for "very wet weather", with 20cm expected to fall across parts of the UK.
This stretches across most of Scotland, northern, central and eastern England and is in place from Thursday to Saturday, with "extensive flooding to homes and businesses" feared.
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There are also warnings of power cuts from Thursday through to Saturday and road closures and train cancellations are likely.
Storm Babet was mustering off England's coastline early this morning, with the worst expected to arrive from 11am today.
Its storm front stretches from Kent, along the south cost to the West Country and into parts of Wales, covering most of Northern Ireland.
From Wednesday morning, up to 6cm of rain could fall in the West Midlands and East Wales, with up to 80mm for some hills.
And up to 30mm of rain could fall this afternoon in Northern Ireland, with a risk of 125mm in eastern areas.
This evening could see up to 100mm of rainfall for high areas in northern England and south-east Scotland.
Gusts of up to 40mph are also expected to bash through Yorkshire and Cornwall later this afternoon.
Despite the storm, Wednesday will be mild, with highs of 17C in Plymouth, 16C in Norwich, 15C in Belfast and 14C in Edinburgh.
Through this evening and overnight, Storm Babet will move north, bringing persistent rain to Northern Ireland.
It will be dry in northern Scotland and heavy showers will roll into the south-west of England overnight.
But it will be a largely windy and mild night for most of the UK.
Storm Babet will continue to cause disruption from Thursday morning when amber and yellow warnings come into force.
In these areas, heavy and persistent rain will fall but be confined to Scotland and north-east England.
Gale force winds will also batter these areas while there will be scattered showers elsewhere.
Sunny spells are expected in the south-west on Thursday.
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There will be highs of 18C in London, 17C in Hull and 15C in Newcastle.
On Friday, the south and the east will remain unsettled with prolonged outbreaks of rain.
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