Winter deluges may become the norm for Britain Dr Peter Stott, the head of climate monitoring and attribution at the Met Office Hadley Centre, agreed that Britain is likely to see wetter and warmer temperatures in future. "We are seeing more extreme temperatures and more intense rainfall events around the world," he said. The expectation in a warming world is for an increased frequency of heatwaves and greater moisture in a warmer atmosphere is expected to lead extreme precipitation events, more intense and more frequent. On Wednesday forecasters warned that there was no end to the current spell of wet weather. Coastal areas of the South West and Wales, and parts of the Midlands near the River Severn, will be worst affected this weekend, with well over an inch of rain expected in some areas on Thursday and more to follow on Friday. Winds gusting up to 70mph could cause damage to properties in western areas. The Environment Agency had 37 flood warnings (flooding is expected) and 163 flood alerts (flooding is possible) in place. Helen Chivers, a forecaster at the Met Office, said: "Because the rain over the next few days comes on top of the record-breaking rain we have had in January, it brings the risk of more flooding. In coastal areas we are asking people to be aware of very big waves crashing into promenades. As members of the Armed Forces went to the Somerset Levels to help people cut off by flood water, the Met Office confirmed that January has been the wettest on record for parts of southern England. The UK as a whole has received 6.5in (164.6mm) of rain in January, 35 per cent above the long-term average, with 6.9in (175.2mm) in South East and Central England, more than twice the regional average and the highest since records began in 1910. On Thursday a band of heavy rain will sweep across the country from west to east, with 0.8 to 1.2 inches (20mm to 30mm) falling on some areas, including Dartmoor, and as much as 1.6 inches (40mm) on high ground. The Environment Agency said coastal and tidal areas of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire were all at an increased risk of flooding. The rest of Gloucestershire, parts of the South East, the North West and the Yorkshire coast will also be affected by wind, rain and high tides in the next few days. Of the 37 flood warnings, 17 were in the Midlands, all but one of those along the River Severn.