Washout weekend: Brits are told to brace for 1.5inches of rain and 70mph gales

Washout weekend: Brits are told to brace for 1.5inches of rain and 70mph gales as Met Office issues severe weather warning in miserable start to October

  • Yellow weather warnings with heavy rain and high winds threatened travel disruption across parts of Britain 
  • The Met Office warned that winds could hit 70mph bringing more than 1.5 inches of rain over several hours 
  • Thunder showers and hail are also predicted over the next two days across huge swathes of the country 

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Heavy rain and strong winds could bring flooding, travel disruption and power outages to parts of England and Scotland over the weekend.

The Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings for the east and south of England and the north east of Scotland, over Aberdeenshire, Orkney and Shetland.

Wind speeds are expected to reach as high as 70mph in some parts, combined with 1.5 inches of rain. 

A tree next to Hammersmith Bridge in west London has been blown down overnight after the Met Office issued a Yellow weather warning for high winds and heavy rain for the weekend 

People out for a Saturday morning walk in Henley-upon-Thames were forced to wrap up well with threatened rain

People out for a Saturday morning walk in Henley-upon-Thames were forced to wrap up well with threatened rain

Yellow weather warnings have been issued for areas across Wales, England and Scotland for the next 48 hours

Yellow weather warnings have been issued for areas across Wales, England and Scotland for the next 48 hours

Heavy rain is expected across the country around 3pm with yellow weather warnings across many areas

Heavy rain is expected across the country around 3pm with yellow weather warnings across many areas 

A Met Office spokesperson said: ’60-70mph gusts would be enough to cause some problems, delays to transport, some short loss of power possible, could be some spray on the coasts.

‘Certainly for north east Scotland the winds are stronger, there’s more chance there of some branches coming off trees, if people have things out in the garden then bits will be blown around, but not quite enough to cause real structural damage.

‘It’s mainly transport disruption.

‘In north east Scotland flooding of some homes and buildings is possible and flooding of some roads and flooding in the odd bit of property as well across The Southeast.’

Strong winds and heavy rain are forecast for some coastal areas on Saturday, affecting East Anglia, Essex, Kent, and the south coast over the Isle of Wight and as far west as Lyme Regis, from 1pm until 10pm.

Gusts are predicted to reach 52mph on the Isle of Wight, 43mph in Norwich and 56mph in Ramsgate.

The Met Office is warning of some delays to road, rail, air and ferry services, delays for high-sided vehicles on exposed routes and bridges, power outages, and high waves and spray in coastal areas.

Meanwhile, heavy downpours are forecast over Orkney and Shetland from 4pm Saturday until 6am on Sunday, bringing some localised flooding and disruption to transport services.

Strong winds are expected over north Aberdeenshire and up to Orkney and Shetland from midnight on Saturday to 3pm on Sunday.

The Met Office is warning some flooding to businesses and homes is ‘likely’, along with transport delays and possible short-term loss of power and other services.

It is also likely that some exposed routes, sea fronts and coastal communities will be affected by spray and large waves.

Sunday will be brighter for most of the UK with some spots of sun, though heavy bursts of rain will continue throughout the day.

But the Met Office is predicting the possibility of more adverse conditions early next week.

The spokesperson added: ‘Certainly for England and Wales, Monday night and Tuesday morning there could be another spell of wet and windy weather.’

This woman in Henley-upon-Thames saw her umbrella getting turned inside out due to a gust of wind

This woman in Henley-upon-Thames saw her umbrella getting turned inside out due to a gust of wind  

A woman in Henley-upon-Thames went for a stroll with her two dogs during a break in the rain earlier today

A woman in Henley-upon-Thames went for a stroll with her two dogs during a break in the rain earlier today  

The Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings following a threat of heavy rain and high winds across the country

The Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings following a threat of heavy rain and high winds across the country 

The heavy rain is expected to move north eastwards across England and Wales with further heavy showers expected in Scotland and Northern Ireland

The heavy rain is expected to move north eastwards across England and Wales with further heavy showers expected in Scotland and Northern Ireland 

Met Office forecaster Marco Petagna added: ‘Saturday’s widespread wet and windy sees a 31 milibar drop in the low pressure, classed as rapid cyclogenesis.’ 

According to the Met Office, later today, areas in the north west could see hail and thunder while coastal areas could be hit with gales. It should be largely sunny later in the day.

The heavy rain is expected to  move north eastwards across England and Wales with further heavy showers across Scotland and Northern Ireland. 

And On Sunday, frequent heavy showers combined with hail and thunder are expected with unsettled weather predicted in southern areas until Tuesday.   

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