Weather experts have issued a severe weather warning for parts of Northern Ireland as the tail end of Hurricane Hanna is predicted to hit the province tomorrow.

The torrential rain which lashed the UK over the weekend may have eased off, but forecasters warned to prepare for worse weather to come.

The Met Office has said up to 25mm of rain could fall over the province during the next two days and to expect possible localised flooding.

Persistent heavy rain will begin to fall today, but according to forecasters the worst of the weather will come tomorrow.

Met Office experts say the heavy rain will be a result of the tropical storm currently travelling over the Atlantic.

They have issued a “moderate risk of a severe weather event affecting all of Northern Ireland”.

It comes as storms lashed parts of the North East of England, Herefordshire, Yorkshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire over the weekend, claiming six lives.

The worst affected area was the town of Morpeth in Northumberland, where 400 residents were evacuated and 1,000 properties damaged by floodwater.

The clean-up operation began after Saturday's floods put the high street under 2ft of water, with more than 400 people needing to be evacuated.

Many residents were plucked to safety using an RAF helicopter.

Dave Clarke, Met Office forecaster, said there will be two periods of quite heavy rain in Northern Ireland during Tuesday and Wednesday.

“A band of rain will move slowly north and east on Tuesday,” he said.

“We have got rain coming in which should affect the west in Tyrone and Fermanagh between 6pm and 7pm tonight.

“The winds are picking up and there should be gale force winds over the high grounds.

“However, the rain will become heavy and persistent on Tuesday. The rain will be heavy and prolonged at times, particularly over high ground, perhaps giving accumulations of 20 mm to 30 mm. There is a chance of some localised flooding.”

Mr Clarke said the bad weather could break over night but will begin again on Wednesday.

He added: “The wet and windy weather will appear again on Wednesday, and it will spread right across the country from the west.”

Mr Clarke explained the heavy rain is typical for this time of year.

“On Wednesday this will be the tail end of Tropical Storm Hanna. We always do get this type of weather.

“This is the hurricane season for America — they go round the Gulf of Mexico and then they drift across the Atlantic.

“They don’t come across as hurricanes, but they bring the warm air associated with it. What it tends to do is intensify the rainfall here.

“It does increase the wind speeds and it tends to be a really quite warm air that comes over Ireland.”

The Met Office said the heavy rain should be over by the end of the week.

“The persistent rainfall should clear up towards the end of the week.

“It should clear up slightly by Thursday with a mixture of sunshine and showers.

“And the next system will affect the North West of Scotland rather than affecting Ireland,” he added.