The Met Office has warned that some parts of the UK could see wind gusts of more than 70mph this week
Coastal areas in the south of the UK will see the worst conditions, according to the latest forecasts (Image: Getty Images)
Parts of the UK are set to be battered by gale-force winds and heavy rain this week.
The Met Office has issued three yellow weather warnings, which will come into force on Thursday (October 23) as a deep area of low pressure sweeps across the country.
Forecasters have warned that the northwesterly winds are likely to be strong and ‘perhaps damaging’. People in affected areas are being warned to expect some some disruption, including delays to transport and power cuts, while heavy rain could cause some flooding.
The Met Office said the “complex area of low pressure” over the mid-Atlantic will deepen as it moves towards the UK, but its exact track is yet to be determined, with some changes to the forecast over the coming days likely.
Currently, the first warning for rain, covering most of southern England, the east Midlands, parts of Wales and Yorkshire, comes into force from midnight and will remain in force for 21 hours, until 9pm on Thursday.
A separate yellow wind warning for southwest England and parts of Wales will then come into force at 4am, while a third warning covering a large area of England from the southeastern coast up to Scarborough will come into force from 9am.
Wind and rain weather warnings have been issued across the UK for Thursday (Image: Met Office )
The deputy chief meteorologist at the Met Office, Dan Harris, said low pressure moving across the south will bring heavy rain and strong winds from Wednesday evening and throughout Thursday.
He explained: “The rain is expected to arrive from the southwest during Wednesday evening, before spreading northeast to many parts of England and Wales during Thursday, leading to difficult driving conditions and the risk of flooding in a few places. At the same time, winds are expected to pick up along south coastal areas in particular.
“However, it is not until Thursday morning that significantly strong northwesterly winds will first begin to affect parts of the west with gusts of 45 to 55 mph, locally 65mph around coasts expected.
“A little later, northerly winds are expected to develop more widely across eastern areas, most likely of similar strength, but there is a small chance of gusts in excess of 70mph should the low pressure system end up being at the stronger end of expectations.”
Met Office maps show exactly where and when the strongest wind gusts are to be expected.
At 10am on Thursday morning, the strongest gusts of wind look set to hit the south west of England.
Winds of up to 66mph are forecast in Cornwall on Thursday at 10am (Image: Met Office )
Maximum gusts of 66mph have been forecast at St Just, the nearest town to Land’s End. Other areas of Cornwall are also expected to see blustery conditions with gusts of 65mph expected in St Ives, 64mph in Newquay and 62mph in Bude.
Elsewhere, the map shows maximum wind gusts of up to 63mph in St David’s in Pembrokeshire, South Wales.
Further up the coast, Fishguard is expected to see gusts of up to 60mph, while Cardigan has been forecast gusts of up to 57mph.
Coastal areas of South Wales and the south west of England will see some of the strongest wind gusts on Thursday morning (Image: Met Office )
The windy conditions look set to sweep eastwards across the south of the UK as the day goes on.
By 1pm, the strongest gusts are expected to hit coastal areas in the south east of England.
Dover and Margate are both forecast maximum wind gusts of 60mph, while Eastbourne could see gusts of 58mph.
Areas along the southern coast including Brighton and Portsmouth could see gusts in the high 40s, as could coastal areas of Suffolk and Norfolk.
By 1pm, the strongest wind gusts will likely be around the south east of England (Image: Met Office )
Windy conditions will likely be seen across much of the UK, with areas further inland seeing maximum gusts of between 30mph and 50mph during the afternoon and evening.
The worst of the unsettled weather is likely to have cleared by Friday, making way for a day of sunny spells and blustery showers.
The Met Office said showers will gradually ease as the day goes on, but winds will remain strong with the possibility of further coastal gales, especially in the east and northeast.
Looking further ahead to the weekend, the Met Office said: “It will turn colder over the weekend as an Arctic Maritime airmass spills southwards in the wake of the mid-week low pressure system.
“There will be a mix of sunny spells and blustery showers which are likely to be wintry over mountain tops in Scotland; this is fairly typical for this time in the year. Sunday may offer a brief window of drier and brighter conditions.”
