Storm Babet brought exceptional rainfall to parts of eastern Scotland with 150 to 200mm falling in the wettest areas and the Met Office issuing two red warnings for rain. For the county of Angus – coinciding with this red warning area – 19 October 2023 was, by a wide margin, the wettest day on record in a series from 1891. Heavy, persistent and widespread rain also affected much of England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 18th to 20th, with 100mm falling fairly widely. This was the third-wettest independent 3-day period for England and Wales in a series from 1891, while the Midlands provisionally recorded its wettest 3-day period on record. This rain came on top of very wet weather earlier in October with some central and eastern parts of England and Scotland recording more than twice the October whole-month average rainfall in the first three weeks of the month. Babet also brought some very strong winds, gusting at over 50Kt (58mph) across northeast England and much of Scotland. A blocking area of high pressure over Scandinavia prevented Babet clearing the UK eastwards into the North Sea and as a result these wind speeds were sustained for a prolonged period. The persistent heavy rain and strong wind resulted in atrocious weather conditions for a sustained period, with a gust of 67Kt (77mph) at Inverbervie (Kincardineshire) and winds gusting at over 100Kt (115mph) across Scotland’s mountain summits.