UK braved for heavy winds and torrential rain, Met office warns

Britain is bracing itself for heavy rain and strong winds, with yellow weather warnings in place for the UK today and into the weekend.

The Met Office has issued a rain warning covering most of the UK and forecast winds up to 60mph for parts of the UK, including the Channel coast, south-west England and west Wales.

In the worst affected regions, including parts of northern Scotland, communities may see 40-60mm of rain during the warning period, with 10-15mm of rain expected widely, according a Met spokesperson.

Flood alerts have also been issued in these regions and warnings of fast-flowing rainwater which could cause danger to life and damage to properties.

At the beginning of August, heavy rain caused chaos in parts of the north of the UK as flooding saw people rescued by emergency services after they were stranded, with others evacuated.

Bookmaker Coral now makes this month odds, at 4-5 (cut from 6-4), to go down as the wettest August since records began as the Met Office continues to warn of heavy rain.

Harry Aitkenhead, from Coral told Yahoo News: 'There has been very little respite from the rain and now over one week into August all the signs are that it is going to be the wettest that we have ever had.'

The weather system is caused by a band of low pressure from across the Atlantic.

Neil Armstrong, Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office said: 'This low-pressure system will bring challenging conditions, including unseasonably strong winds and heavy rain, from the west during Friday and Saturday.

Train lines in Scotland will be disrupted along with cross-Channel ferries, along with a number of outdoor events and festivals being cancelled.

Devastated music fans have been left stranded at Boardmasters music festival after event organisers pulled the plug on Tuesday.

The high winds forecast meant that the King's cup regatta, which took place on the Isle of Wight yesterday, was moved forward.

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The charity sailing race hosted by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge was originally meant to take place on Friday.

The spokesperson said that summer storms - compared with those in autumn and winter - always have the potential to create additional impacts because more people are likely to be outdoors, especially by the coast.

'People are more likely to be outside doing activities with their children who are off school, or in the garden where garden furniture could easily be blown, potentially causing injury.'

'Additionally with trees in full leaf they are more vulnerable to being brought down by strong winds.'

Highways England’s Head of Road Safety, Richard Leonard has urged motorists to avoid unnecessary travel because of poor driving conditions.

'In high winds, there’s a particular risk to lorries, caravans and motorbikes so we’d advise drivers of these vehicles to slow down and avoid using exposed sections of road if possible,' he said.