Six weeks of rain expected by New Year as deluge continues Some parts of the UK endured 12 hours of rain yesterday and an Atlantic storm is expected to bring much more rain this weekend. Paul Knightley, forecaster for MeteoGroup, said: "The actual epicentre won't be anywhere near us, but it will have quite a lot of effect on our weekend. There could be gales around the coastal areas of up to 50 to 55mph, maybe more in northern Scotland. It is fairly normal weather for this time of year, but given the ground is soaking wet it is going to cause a few issues. Rail and road networks were badly hit in the days leading up to Christmas, with a number of key routes struck by weather-related delays and National Rail warned of further disruption in the south-west today. The UK's average rainfall in 2012, excluding December, was 1,202mm - already placing it 13th in the list of wettest years since records began in 1910. The year 2000 remains the UK's wettest year, with an average rainfall of 1,337.3mm - a level that could be surpassed once December's figures are included.