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Met Office in Exeter issues new warnings as severe weather is set to hit Devon for the next two days

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The Met Office has warned people to be prepared for more severe weather on Sunday and Monday. Heavy rain and strong winds are predicted, falling on land already saturated by recent downpours. Although Sunday started dry, heavy rain was predicted to sweep in across the country by mid morning. The UK is enduring the worst series of winter storms in more than 20 years, weather experts have said, as the Devon prepares for even more flooding. The Environment Agency has issued 96 flood warnings throughout England and Wales urging people to take immediate action, while a further 244 areas are on flood alert. Of those, 13 severe flood warnings have been issued for Devon and Cornwall – indicating a danger to life – and more than 100 warnings for the entire South West. Coastal areas across Devon and Cornwall are most at risk as they cope with a combination of unusually high tides and another Atlantic storm today. Forecaster Matt Dobson for MeteoGroup said the rain "simply has nowhere to go" after weeks of severe weather has saturated the ground and swelled rivers. He added: "It's very unusual to have so many powerful storms come in one after the other in such a short space of time, we haven't seen anything like this since about 1991. "The nasty weather of the last few days is going to continue across the UK, with the combination of high tides and a powerful storm putting coastal areas particularly at risk. "Any rain will mean more flooding as the ground is saturated and swollen rivers are coming up against strong waves. The water simply has nowhere to go. The Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings of ice and rain, predicting river and surface flooding as well as travel disruption mainly in the South West, south Wales and the east of England. Up to 40mm of rain could fall in higher ground. The strong winds, persistent rain and tidal waves are predicted to the batter the UK for at least another two days, as emergency services attempt to cope with the trail of devastation already created by the severe weather. More than 200 homes have been flooded from Cornwall to Scotland, with miles of coastline battered and roads and fields across the country left under water. Prime Minister David Cameron praised the "great work" of the emergency services and Environment Agency in responding to the latest floods and defended the Government's flooding policy in protecting 200,000 homes. The coastal surge in recent days has tested over 3,000km of flood defences in England and over 205,000 properties have been protected. Trains have also suffered disruption with services in west Wales and from Newport and Bristol to the south coast affected by the weather. There were also delays at the Port of Dover because of force five winds. Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said: "The worst of the bad weather is not yet over so I've chaired an emergency meeting of all departments involved to make sure that preparations to respond are in hand. "Our flood defences have worked very well and have protected 205,000 homes at risk. "I'd like to thank the Environment Agency, local councils, public utilities and emergency services who have worked tirelessly over the last week. I'd also like to thank soldiers from 36 Engineer Regiment and 2 Royal Gurkha Rifles who have helped to fill additional sandbags today in Kent. "I would urge all those in at risk areas to sign up to the Environment Agency warnings and listen to advice being issued." The Environment Agency , councils, the RNLI and South Western Ambulance Service all issued warnings to the public to take care in the weather conditions – particularly in light of two fatalities on the coast in the past week. Tamsin Thomas, from the RNLI, said it was essential people don't underestimate how powerful the waves can be. "This advice is being given out for a very good reason by the emergency services who are experts in these matters," she said. "We have had two tragedies already, be mindful of that, we don't want to have to go into the waters to rescue anymore. "If you are going down to the coast try and avoid exposed places where big waves might sweep you off your feet and avoid going near fast flowing water. "This includes rivers which are very swollen at the moment and are moving far faster than they normally would."

Met Office in Exeter issues new warnings as severe weather is set to hit Devon for the next two days


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