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UK weather: 70mph winds and heavy rain set to batter Britain this weekend

Car going through a flooded street in Whitley Bay in Northumberland. A slow-moving band of heavy rain set to drench parts of the UK has triggered weather warnings and flood alerts.
Cars going through a flooded street in Whitley Bay in Northumberland earlier this week. (PA)

The UK is set to be battered by heavy rain and gale force winds of up to 70mph over the weekend which could cause “flying debris” and dangerous flooding.

Large parts of southern England are set to be worst affected by the severe weather, with cities including Cardiff, Plymouth, Bristol, and London likely to suffer severe rains from Saturday morning onwards.

The Environment Agency issued eight flood warnings and 27 flood alerts, stretching from Cornwall right up to Hornsea on the North Sea coast.

The Met Office has also issued yellow weather warnings for both wind and rain, with gusts of up to 70mph (112kph) expected.

Tourists are seen sheltering from the rain underneath umbrellas on a rainy day in London. (Photo by Steve Taylor / SOPA Images/Sipa USA)
Flood warnings have been issued for large parts of the UK. (PA)

Under the yellow warning for wind, the Met Office website says there could be “danger to life from flying debris as well as from large waves with beach material being thrown onto sea fronts, coastal roads and properties”.

There is also a “slight chance of some damage to trees and buildings, such as tiles blown from roofs”.

A Met Office forecaster reportedly told The Sun: “There is a small chance of fast flowing or deep floodwater causing danger to life.

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“There is a band of rain pushing in from the west. That will lead to rain for many into Friday.

“It’s a cloudy, miserable picture for pretty much everyone. The rain may clear by midday Friday in the southwest.

“But a front of low pressure will bring heavy rain to the west on Saturday.

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"That band of rain is likely to stretch from Cheshire, into Wales and maybe south England.”

Forecasters warned up to 60mm of rain could fall on Saturday, almost half the total average rainfall for October, which is 127mm.

The weather will clear up on Sunday with only the north-east of Scotland still subject to the Met Office’s weather warnings.

The UK’s travel networks are set to be severely disrupted over the weekend, with trains across the country delayed or cancelled due to the flooding.