Heavy rain could cause travel chaos across the weekend as it coincides with a strike by train drivers on Saturday.
The Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings for southern England and southern Wales and Saturday and Sunday. Parts of Scotland are under a yellow weather warning on Saturday.
It said downpours would likely cause flooding on roads and make journey times longer, with flooding of homes and businesses also possible.
Four flood warnings and 56 flood alerts have been issued in England.
The weather warnings on Saturday coincide with train drivers from 11 companies belonging to the Aslef union striking in a long-running dispute over pay.
Passengers have been urged to plan ahead and check before they travel throughout the whole weekend.
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Trains that are running will start later on Saturday morning and finish much earlier than usual, with services typically running between 7.30am and 6.30pm on the day of the strike.
Rain, which is expected to be heavy at times, is set to hit parts of south Wales and southwest England between 2pm on Saturday and 3am on Sunday.
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In Wales Cardiff, Swansea and Carmarthen are among the areas that could be affected, while in England Plymouth, Southampton and St Austell could be affected.
The Met Office said: “Rain is expected to develop across south Wales and south-west England during Saturday afternoon, moving slowly east to clear most areas early on Sunday morning.
“Although the most persistent rain is expected over hills, periods of heavy rain are expected almost anywhere. 15 to 25 mm is expected quite widely, with some places seeing 40 to 60 mm of rain, particularly over hills in south Wales and south-west England.
“Strong winds will accompany the rain, with gusts of 45 to 55 mph over hills and around coasts.”
Parts of Scotland, including Perth and Sterling, could also get heavy rain from noon to midnight on Saturday.
The Met Office warned “heavy rain may lead to some flooding and disruption to travel” during this period.
“Rain will turn persistent and heavy at times across the warning area through Saturday afternoon and evening,” it added.
“Accumulations of 20 to 30 mm are expected with 45 mm possible on high ground.
“Given existing saturated ground there is a risk of some localised flooding.”
From Sunday to Tuesday, the Met Office weather outlook states: “Rain across England and Wales will slowly clear Sunday, with blustery showers following to the north.
“Showers in the north die out Monday, with many areas dry Tuesday.
Detectives investigating human remains found wrapped in plastic at a Salford nature reserve believe children who were playing in the area days before the discovery could have crucial information.
The crime scene in Kersal Dale Wetlands has been lifted after a 12-day search involving more than 100 officers, an underwater search team and dogs.
Warning: This story contains details readers may find distressing
The “significant body part” found wrapped in clear plastic on Thursday 4 April was today confirmed by Greater Manchester Police to consist of the bottom part of the deceased’s back, buttocks and thigh.
Detectives are working to identify the victim, who they say was a man likely over the age of 40. It appears he was white, with no distinguishable marks on his body such as scars or tattoos, police added.
Officers think he had only been dead for a few days.
Police have launched a murder investigation and are appealing for witnesses, including dog walkers, who were in the area between 6am and 6pm on the day a passer-by made the grim discovery.
A trawl of footage from nearby CCTV cameras found children were playing in the area in the days leading up to the body part being found and officers believe they “could hold crucial information without even realising it”.
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Detective Chief Inspector Andy Naismith said: “Our focus from day one has remained on the victim’s family. They will be suffering the loss of a loved one, and we need to be able to give them answers so they can come to terms with their loss. Our work is far from over, this is just the beginning of a long and complex investigation.”
He added: “Although we haven’t found any more human remains in the area from our searches, we continue to work with an open mind whilst our murder investigation continues.”
The investigation cannot confirm the deceased’s nationality at this stage, the detective added.
He said: “My team have checked the victim’s DNA against the UK police database and although this does not bring up a match, there is extensive work ongoing, including trawls of various other databases, missing person records and medical records; it’s a big piece of work which will take time.”
The police also want to hear from members of the public who may have a missing family member, DCI Naismith said.
He added: “Right now, as well as wanting to speak to those who may have been in the area where the body part was found, we are also appealing to anyone who has a dad, brother, or son who they have not seen in over 12 days to come forward and speak to us.
“Our victim could be a family member, friend, co-worker or acquaintance and someone somewhere will have an idea of what has happened to him.”
Metallica frontman James Hetfield has shared details of his latest tattoo – featuring the ashes of the late Motorhead rocker Lemmy.
Hetfield posted a picture on Metallica‘s Instagram account, showing a new Aces Of Spades inking on his right middle finger in reference to Motorhead’s biggest hit.
The singer and guitarist told the band’s 11 million followers the tattoo is “a salute to my friend and inspiration Mr Lemmy Kilmister”, adding: “Without him, there would be NO Metallica.”
He went on to say: “Black ink mixed with a pinch of his cremation ashes that were so graciously given to me. So now, he is still able to fly the bird at the world.”
Lemmy, whose real name was Ian Kilmister, was the founder and frontman of British rock band Motorhead. Formed in the 1970s, the band went on to release more than 20 albums, with hits including Overkill, Iron Fist and Ace Of Spades.
He died in December 2015, just days after being diagnosed with cancer.
Hetfield formed American rock act Metallica with drummer Lars Ulrich in the early 1980s, and the band released their 11th album, 72 Seasons, last year.
They are best known for hits including Enter Sandman, Master Of Puppets, Nothing Else Matters and Until It Sleeps.
‘The most badass tribute’
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Hetfield has previously spoken about Motorhead’s influence on Metallica, and in 2022 called for Motorhead to be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
“It’s just a nod, a tip of the cap. What does it really mean to be in there? I don’t know. But to some of these bands it might mean the world,” he said in a radio interview.
“With the passing of Lemmy, it’s really, really important for me to see Motorhead acknowledged in that – because there’s no more rock’n’roll person on this planet than Lemmy.”
Many fans commented on his tattoo photo, with one calling the inking “the most badass tribute possible”.
Another said: “RIP Lemmy. This is a wonderful gift!”
The Only Way Is Essex stars Joey Essex and James Argent have been forced to hitchhike after becoming stranded in Dubai floods sparked by record rainfall.
Essex, 33, said the pair had “decided to hitchhike after hours of trying to get back home” in an Instagram story posted on Tuesday evening.
In uploaded videos, the reality TV stars are seen standing and walking barefoot in ankle-deep water after what the state-run WAM news agency called a “historic weather event” in which more rain fell than in any other weather event since records began in 1949.
Argent, 36, – also known as Arg – is seen standing next to a flooded road with his hand stuck out in front of him, as Essex said: “Hitchhiking, we have no choice.”
Essex also uploaded a clip of him walking along the street pavement, part of which had seemingly collapsed, as a car tried to make its way across a flooded road.
The caption said: “After hours of looking for a taxi and hitchhiking on the streets of Dubai. We have now decided to take the next step… operation survival.”
In the next video Essex was seen holding his shoes as he walked along the streets barefoot, with the water around his ankles.
Footage of him crossing a flooded street was posted with a fitting song – Love Is All Around by Wet Wet Wet.
The pair were among UK passengers planning to travel via Dubai International Airport, whose flights were disrupted by standing water on taxiways at the world’s busiest hub for international travel.
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Emirates cancelled seven flights between the UAE and the UK, with British Airways diverting or axing four and passengers advised to stay away.
Many flights were delayed by several hours on Tuesday, including an Emirates flight which landed at Heathrow more than five hours late.
Heavy rainstorms hit the city late on Monday, dropping nearly 2.5cm (1in) of rain, according to meteorological data collected at the airport.
Conditions intensified from around 9am local time on Tuesday and by the end of the day more than 15cm (6ins) of rainfall had soaked Dubai over the course of 24 hours.
Cloud seeding
Many roads in the UAE lack drainage given the lack of regular rainfall, which is unusual in the UAE, an arid, Arabian Peninsula nation, but occurs periodically during the cooler winter months.
Earlier media reports linked the extreme weather to “cloud seeding”, in which small planes flown by the government go through clouds burning special salt flares, which can increase precipitation.
The UAE, which relies heavily on energy-hungry desalination plants to provide water, carries out cloud seeding in part to increase its dwindling, limited groundwater.
But Professor Maarten Ambaum, a meteorologist at the University of Reading, said there was “no technology in existence that can create or even severely modify this kind of rainfall event”.
“These storms appear to be the result of a mesoscale convective system – a series of medium-sized thunderstorms caused by massive thunderclouds, formed as heat draws moisture up into the atmosphere,” he said.
“These can create large amounts of rain, and when they occur over a wide area and one after another, can lead to seriously heavy downpours. They can rapidly lead to surface water floods, as we have seen in places such as Dubai airport.”
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He said “intense rainfall events” could be made more “more extreme due to climate change”, with a warmer atmosphere able to hold more water vapour.
Professor Ambaum added: “The UAE does have an operational cloud seeding programme to enhance the rainfall in this arid part of the world, however, there is no technology in existence that can create or even severely modify this kind of rainfall event.
“Furthermore, no cloud seeding operations have taken place in this area recently.”
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Schools across the UAE, which largely shut ahead of the storm, remained closed on Wednesday and the government ordered staff to continue working from home.
Rain also fell in Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia and separate heavy flooding has taken place in Oman in recent days.