‘Up to 11 more storms’ to batter Britain over autumn and winter

Storm Brian and Storm Ophelia lashed the UK and Ireland this week but the worst may be still to come, with up to 11 more storms reportedly forecast over the autumn and winter.

Meteorologists have put the succession of tempests down to a 'storm factory' brewing in the central Atlantic, The Sunday Times reported.

The forecast was made by AccuWeather, an international meteorological group, which told the paper this number of storms would be a record, doubling the amount last year.

After Aileen and Brian, the next named storms would be Caroline, Dylan, Eleanor, Fionn, Georgina, Hector, Iona, James, Karen, Larry and Maeve, if predications are correct.

Last winter, British storms got only as far as Ewan.

Wind gusts could push 120mph with the storms expected to cause floods and repeated travel chaos.

Met Office forecaster Craig Snell told the paper: “The Atlantic is a breeding ground for storms.

"Autumn storms are created by the difference in temperature between cold air near the poles and warm air in the tropics being at its greatest at this time of year.

It comes after Storm Brian battered parts of the UK and Ireland on Sunday with heavy rain and gusts of up to 80mph sparking flash floods and travel chaos.

The Met Office issued several severe weather warnings for areas expected to be worst hit by gales as the Environment Agency put out warnings over flooding just days after three people were killed in the wake of Storm Ophelia.