Strong winds are set to batter the UK again after Storm Darragh swept through the country.
A fresh yellow Met Office wind warning came into force across much of England and Wales at 6am, as winds of up to 80mph continued to hit Northern Ireland.
Gusts of 35-45mph are likely around England and Wales, reaching 70mph around the coast during the morning.
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Image: Yellow weather warnings in place on Sunday. Pic: Met Office
Further travel disruption and power cuts are likely until 6pm, the Met Office said.
Follow live: Storm Darragh latest
Around 259,000 people were left without power on Saturday after Darragh brought gusts of 93mph to some parts of the country.
The Energy Networks Association said 80% of homes affected by the storm have been reconnected.
Image: A fallen tree in Somerset
A “risk to life” alert was sent to around three million people on Friday evening within the area covered by the Met Office’s rare red warning for wind.
Two men were killed by falling trees hitting their vehicles.
Image: High winds and rain at Blacksod, County Mayo, Ireland, as Storm Darragh hit. Pic: Fergus Sweeney / X
The latest victim was killed when a tree fell and hit his car in Silver Birch Road, Erdington, on Saturday afternoon, according to West Midlands Police.
“Our thoughts are with the man’s family at this time, and his next of kin have been informed,” said Sergeant Benjamin Parsons, of the roads policing unit.
Image: Llandudno Pier, in North Wales, was highly damaged by the storm
Earlier in the day, a man died after a tree fell on to his van in Lancashire.
The man, who was in his 40s, was driving his Citroen vehicle on the A59 at Longton, near Preston, at about 9am on Saturday.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
“Very sadly, this incident has resulted in the death of a man and our thoughts are with his loved ones at this time,” said Detective Sergeant Matt Davidson, from Lancashire Police’s serious collision investigation unit.
“An investigation is ongoing, and I would appeal to anyone who saw what happened or has any dashcam or mobile phone footage to please get in touch.”
The Environment Agency had 56 flood warnings in place in England on Saturday evening, meaning flooding is expected.
Storm Darragh is the first storm since last January’s Isha to earn a red “threat to life” warning from the Met Office.
And it has lived up to that dubious honour.
The highest recorded windspeed was 93mph (150kph) in Capel Curig in Wales and at least one person is thought to have died as a result of the storm.
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Pier in Welsh town battered by storm
While Darragh wasn’t the most intense storm in recent years, it was a monster. The extra-tropical cyclone (to give it it’s proper title) measured 1,000km (621 miles) across as it passed right over the UK.
Revolving anti-clockwise, as such storms do, it encircled our coasts with winds from the north and east with the most powerful barrelling in from the southwest.
It’s just over two weeks since Storm Bert brought widespread flooding and high winds to Wales and southern England with four named storms now in the last three months.
So, it’s not unreasonable to ask: Is the UK getting stormier?
Image: UK named storms. Pic: Met Office
The 2023/24 storm season was certainly a bad one with 12 named storms. The Met Office got so far down the alphabet the season ended with Lilian’s yellow warnings for rain and wind in August.
But the season before saw just two named storms. You have to go back to 2015/16, when there were 11 named storms.
The picture is messier before that date as the naming convention began in 2015, making comparisons before then impossible.
Image: A person takes shelter under an umbrella on the Sean O’Casey Bridge in Dublin. Pic: PA
However, meteorologists believe the 2013/14 storm season was the most severe in at least two decades.
At least 12 named storms brought major coastal flooding and the inundation of the Somerset levels with water for weeks on end.
No clear trends
In fact, a recent review of storm records, going back over four decades, has revealed there’s no clear trend between our rapidly warming planet and the frequency of North Atlantic storms.
The jet stream – the high-altitude atmospheric current that tends to steer weather systems towards us over the North Atlantic – has a complicated and so far indecipherable relationship with climate change.
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0:26
‘It’s not Wizard Of Oz stuff’
The current best guess is that storms may get more frequent and more windy when, on current trends, the world is around two degrees warmer a few decades from now. But as things currently stand that’s an uncertain prediction.
What is clearer, is the relationship between warming and how much rain storms bring.
Average winter rainfall has been increasing across Northern Europe and simple physics help explain that.
Image: A tree which hit a car in Liverpool. Pic: PA
More rainfall likely as the climate warms
With every degree increase in temperature, the atmosphere can hold 7% more water vapour – water that eventually falls as rain.
And the warmer the oceans are, the more readily they give up their moisture and the more energy – in the form of heat – they can transfer to storms.
The trend in ocean temperatures – particularly in the North Atlantic over which most of our storms develop – has been stark in recent years.
Image: North Atlantic Daily Sea Surface Temperatures 1985-2024. Pic: Climatereanalyzer.org/NOAA
Surface temperatures there in 2023/24 have tracked up to a degree or more above average in records going back to the 1980s.
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As Storm Darragh moves on, we’ll get a flavour of what our wetter future feels like.
The system is dumping rain across most of the UK, even areas that were thankfully spared the worst of its lethal winds.
The Met Office has said it is “committed to learning the lessons from Storm Bert” after criticism of its weather forecasts.
The weather service also defended itself, pointing out that “observed rainfall totals were broadly in line with the forecast and the severe weather warnings issued in advance”.
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Through the end of last week and into the weekend, the storm brought torrential rain and winds over 80mph to parts of the UK.
At least four people have died since Storm Bert began, leaving communities badly flooded and turning roads into rivers.
It brought a month’s worth of rain in one weekend to parts of the UK, with the hills of South Wales the worst hit.
‘Incompetence’
In the House of Commons, on Monday, ministers were told that “incompetence” at the Met Office led to an underestimation of the storm.
Labour MP for Cardiff West Alex Barros-Curtis claimed warnings should have been “amber or red”.
He said: “Can I ask that the secretary of state [Environment Secretary Steve Reed] speak to his Department for Science, Innovation and Technology colleagues to carefully look into the role of the Met Office here?
“It is clear that their response was slow and that there was a clear underestimation of the impact of Storm Bert.
“They put it yellow rather than amber or red. Our constituents have been let down by this incompetence before, and it cannot keep happening.”
However, in response to this and other criticism, Met Office services director Simon Brown said that rainfall levels were “within the expected range of that forecast”.
Image: Brian Preece, 77, at his home on a mud-covered street, in the aftermath of Storm Bert, in Cwmtillery, South Wales.
Pic: Reuters
Image: Pic: PA
He added that the warnings in place also highlighted the danger from the floods and outlined how “many factors” play a role in their warning strategy.
Mr Brown continued: “I’m committed to learning the lessons from Storm Bert to support even greater preparedness and we will be reviewing our warning strategy and how this linked to flood models in the coming weeks and days.
“Today my team and I have been working with stakeholder, partners and customers to start to review Storm Bert.”
Image: People walk through flood water in Northamptonshire.
Pic: PA
Image: A resident and a dog move mud through mud in Cwmtillery, Wales.
Pic: Reuters
Weather forecast
Extreme weather events like Storm Bert are becoming more common with human-induced climate change, studies show.
Provisional statistics show that White Barrow, in Devon, experienced the most rainfall during Storm Bert with 175.7mm (6.91″) between 23 November and midnight 25 November.
Treherbert, Tyn-Y-Waun in South Wales recorded 171.6mm (6.76″) at a Natural Resources Wales rain gauge over the same period and winds of 82mph were recorded in Capel Curig, Gwynedd.
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Storm Bert will slowly “pull away” from the UK on Tuesday, the Met Office said, but the risk of flooding may remain.
It is expected to be largely drier and sunnier – with some showers in Northern Ireland, northern England and on western coasts.
However, on Wednesday, an area of low pressure is set to move into southern parts of the UK bringing back more heavy rain.
Snow, rain and strong winds are expected to disrupt travel plans and potentially cause flooding as Storm Bert hits the UK.
Several weather warnings are in place, while 16 flood alerts have been issued – warning flooding is possible – in England and Scotland.
Most of the UK is affected by yellow warnings for either wind, rain or snow, with a slightly more severe amber warning covering parts of northern England and central Scotland.
Two areas of Ireland have been issued a rare red warning for heavy rain until 10am.
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London, East Anglia, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Hull and swathes of the Midlands are the only parts with no current warnings in place.
Image: The warnings in place. Pic: Met Office
Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern described a “multiple hazard event” going into Saturday morning.
“We’ll see two to four hours of heavy snow across parts of northern England and Scotland during Saturday morning,” he said.
“This snow will accumulate thick and fast, with five to 10cm at lower levels and as much as 20 to 40cm over hills accompanied by strong winds.
“You can expect blizzards over hills across northern England and Scotland, atrocious conditions for travelling and going over the hills and also the risk of power interruptions because of snow build up on power lines.
“So all in all, a multiple hazard event as we go into Saturday morning.”
Temperatures will rise quickly as the storm brings milder air from the Atlantic, he said, resulting in a “rapid thaw” by the afternoon.
Where the warnings are and when
South coast – A yellow warning for wind is in place for the entire south coast of England from 3pm until 9pm, with a slight chance of damage to buildings and power cuts.
Southwest – From 6am, a yellow warning for rain is in place in the southwest of England, from Cornwall up to Oxford and stretching to Portsmouth. This is in place until 11.45pm.
Wales – Heavy rain is likely to cause some travel disruption, particularly in South Wales, with a yellow warning across the country lasting 24 hours from 6am.
Northern Ireland – A yellow warning for rain and snow kicked in at midnight and lasts until 11am, likely affecting journey times on roads and rails.
Midlands, north and Scotland – A yellow warning for rain and snow reaching from Stoke and Nottingham up to all of Scotland started at 4am and stays in place until 9am. Manchester, Liverpool and Hull are not affected.
Southern Scotland – An amber warning for snow starts at 7am and ends at midday, covering the Pennines, Yorkshire Dales and some southern parts of Scotland.
Central Scotland – Parts of central Scotland can expect some heavy snowfall, with an amber warning for snow and ice from 7am until 5pm over Aberfeldy and surrounding areas, northwest of Perth and Dundee.
East and west coasts – From 5am until 7pm, a yellow warning for wind covers the entire eastern coasts of Scotland and northern England, down to Grimsby.
The same warning covers much of the western coastline from Wales up to northern Scotland, though Manchester and Liverpool are not included.
What the weather warnings mean
• Yellow – people are advised to check the details of the forecast and consider extra steps to minimise any impact, while disruption is likely, particularly for travel; • Amber – disruption is more likely and more widespread and people are advised to change plans impacted by weather; • Red – reserved for very dangerous weather that can pose a danger to life and cause substantial travel disruption.
Travel disruption
While airports are not expecting disruption, rail companies have announced service changes over the weekend.
In Scotland, there will be speed restrictions on the West Highland Line, Highland Mainline, Stranraer Line, Glasgow South Western Line, Far North Line, and West Coast Mainline between Carstairs and the border.
Read more: Why parts of UK saw no sunshine earlier this month
ScotRail has also withdrawn services from Inverness to Elgin, Aberdeen to Inverurie, and Glasgow Queen Street to Oban.
The TransPennine Express, meanwhile, “strongly” urged customers not to travel north of Carlisle on Saturday and Avanti West Coast advised against travel north of Preston.
Warnings for winds and rain have come into effect across different parts of the UK as the first named storm of the season has hit.
Storm Ashley is “likely” to bring a threat of injuries and danger to life, the Met Office has said, with the entirety of Scotland and Northern Ireland being under a yellow warning for wind.
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An amber warning for the northwest of Scotland will take effect at 9am until midnight with the weather service warning “injuries and danger to life is likely from large waves and beach material being thrown onto coastal roads, sea fronts and properties”.
Image: Warnings in place as Storm Ashley hits the UK. Pic: Met Office
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Met Office meteorologist Dan Stroud said “very strong, severe gales” on Sunday would coincide with high spring tides, which could also result in “very large waves”.
The north of Scotland will remain under a yellow warning for wind from midnight until 9am on Monday.
Image: A couple walk their dog in the early morning fog in Bushy Park on Friday.
Pic: AP
Further south, the Met Office has issued a yellow warning for the southwest of England and South Wales until midday on Sunday with a threat of disruption to travel with flooding and possible interruptions to power supplies.
Mr Stroud said gale force winds are due to continue through to Monday morning meaning “fallen debris and trees” could impact commuters at the start of the week.
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Road users in Scotland have been advised to avoid unnecessary travel where possible, while Sunday’s annual Great South Run in Portsmouth, Hampshire, has been cancelled because of weather-related safety concerns.
Police Scotland have advised motorists to “plan ahead and avoid unnecessary travel where possible” ahead of the “strong likelihood” of disruption on roads, while Transport Scotland has warned of likely delays to public transport, including the country’s ferry network.
Meteorologist Ellie Glaisyer said: “Parts of western Scotland could see gusts of 70-80mph during the afternoon. It will turn drier and brighter across much of England and Wales with some sunny spells during the afternoon.”
Winds are expected to ease on Monday with rain moving into the South East. The north is expected to remain blustery for much of the week.
The Environment Agency’s website listed 41 active flood warnings on Sunday morning, meaning flooding is expected, and 132 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible.
The warnings include multiple areas of the River Severn, the south Cornwall coast and the Wye Estuary.
Natural Resources Wales said there are three flood warnings and 13 flood alerts in place, while 16 flood warnings have been issued by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency along with 17 alerts.
A “very widespread” storm is forecast to hit Britain with strong winds and heavy rain as multiple amber warnings come into force, the Met Office has said.
Storm Isha, the ninth storm since September, is expected to bring winds of up to 80mph, potentially causing power cuts and increased congestion as roads and bridges are likely to be shut, while rail and bus services could face delays and cancellations.
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The Met Office has issued amber weather warnings for wind for northern and western England, Wales, Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland from Sunday evening into Monday.
Another warning comes into force across parts of Sussex and Kent from Monday morning.
Forecasters have also warned of large waves and flying debris being blown inland in coastal areas, posing a potential risk to life and damage to buildings.
Yellow warnings for rain and wind are in place for the rest of the country over the next two days, and eight flood warnings are already in place across England.
The heaviest rain is expected today, with 30mm to 50mm in many places and 80mm to 100mm in hillier areas.
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Met Office forecaster Ellie Glaisyer said: “The main thing about this storm is it is very widespread across the whole of the UK.
“Quite often we see storms affecting the northwest or the southern half of the UK, whereas this one, later on Sunday and into Monday, the whole of the UK is covered by a warning, which is relatively rare.
“In that nature it’s a very widespread storm and it’s going to be affecting everybody. Heavy rain will affect everybody, those strong winds will affect everybody.
“That’s the main difference to previous storms we have seen.”
Image: Forecasters have warned of large waves and flying debris being blown inland in coastal areas. File pic
Ireland’s Met Eireann also has amber wind warnings in place today and on Monday, with a status red storm warning covering coastal areas in the north of the country.
“A status red severe weather warning is rarely issued but when it is, people in the areas expected to be affected should take action to protect themselves and/or their properties,” the forecaster says on its website.
High winds forced the Severn Bridge to close in both directions for a time overnight, but it has now reopened.
East Midlands Railway said it expected “significant disruption” on Sunday and Monday, while Police Scotland advised people to avoid unnecessary travel.
Ms Glaisyer said: “Anybody driving on Sunday evening and through Monday should be wary of water on the roads, lots of spray, perhaps some branches and trees may have fallen over causing roads to be blocked.
“There’s some large waves as well that could cause disruption to ferry services and the strong winds could cause some delays to trains and plane travel.”
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Warmer weather will accompany the adverse conditions after a week of snow and sub-zero temperatures, with highs of 13C possible today.
However, Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said the strong winds, rain and clouds could overshadow the milder weather so it might not “feel quite so warm”.
Read more: What are your rights over cold workplace temperatures? Pictures: Snowy scenes blanket the UK
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0:33
Earlier this month: Snow coats County Durham
Mr Burkill added: “Temperatures will be on the mild side, lifting as we go through this weekend and staying mild through much of next week.
“There may be some chillier spells but I think that any frost is likely to be isolated if we see any at all.”
From Tuesday afternoon until midday on Wednesday, a yellow wind warning will be in place covering Northern Ireland, north Wales, northern England and much of Scotland.
Thousands of homes are still without power after Storm Gerrit wreaked havoc across northern England and Scotland.
The chaotic weather has delivered everything from heavy snow to a damaging tornado, ruining many people’s journeys home from Christmas festivities.
Around 1,500 properties in Scotland are still suffering electricity outages, with people in the northeast and Shetland among the worst affected.
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) hopes to restore power to the remaining households on Friday and welfare vans serving hot food and drink will be open to customers in the meantime.
Image: A flooded road in Cupar, Fife, this week
‘Absolute disaster’
The storm is also still being felt in northern England and Wales.
Stalybridge, Tameside, and Carrbrook in Greater Manchester are in a “recovery phase”, local authorities have said, after they were hit by a rare tornado that toppled trees and damaged homes.
The freak whirlwind was thought to have been caused by a supercell thunderstorm, and residents said it had left some homes looking like “an absolute disaster”.
Elsewhere, three men died after their 4×4 vehicle was submerged in the River Esk, near Glaisdale.
In Wales, 36,000 properties were left without power after lightning struck in Ceredigion.
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0:54
Residents in shock after ‘mini tornado’
Travel disruption set to continue
Storm Gerrit brought chaos to roads, railway lines, airports, and ferry services nationwide earlier in the week – and the disruption isn’t over as the weekend beckons.
The Met Office has said the final days of 2023 will see more strong wind, rain, and snow, though there are no weather warnings in place.
But the Environment Agency has 33 active flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, covering rivers including the Severn and Ouse.
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Flying through Storm Gerrit in a helicopter
ScotRail, LNER, Avanti West Coast and London Northwestern Railway are among the train companies to have told passengers they should check before travelling in the coming days.
While many lines have reopened since the storm blew through, services could still be suspended or cancelled due to system faults and damage.
The London Euston and Watford Junction lines are not expected to be fully online until the end of Friday, while Welsh train services are expected to be hampered until Monday.
Ferries are also still expecting trouble, with journeys between Dover and France impacted by wind.
Travellers heading to Europe should soon be able to resume their journey after a deal was done to end a strike that halted cross-Channel trains.
Thousands were stranded on Thursday when French workers rejected an end-of-year bonus.
Services affected included Eurostar, which runs passenger services from London St Pancras, and Eurotunnel Le Shuttle, which runs vehicle-carrying trains from Folkestone.
The disruption started about midday and at least 30 Eurostar trains were cancelled, with many turning back to where they started.
Eurotunnel later said management and trade unions had reached a deal that meant services would “resume progressively this evening and Eurostar tomorrow morning [Friday]”.
Getlink, the company that manages Channel Tunnel infrastructure, said unions wanted three times the €1,000 (£866) bonus they were offered.
The problems came on a day when all services from London Euston were suspended for a time due to overhead line damage near Watford Junction.
Image: Passengers were stuck without trains at London Euston
Image: People were also prevented from going on to platforms at King’s Cross
King’s Cross also had severe delays due to a fallen tree in the Newark area.
Large crowds massed outside the stations and on concourses, staring at their phones and trying to work out alternative routes.
At 4.30pm, Euston said the problem had been fixed and “we are working closely with train operators to get you on the move”.
However some operators, such as London Northwestern, were still reporting disruption on Thursday evening.
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0:53
Plane struggles to land in Storm Pia
Storm Pia also disrupted air travel, with some planes diverting from northern airports and British Airways grounding two dozen flights.
Video showed a pilot fighting to land his plane at Birmingham in 50mph crosswinds.
The aircraft was less than 100ft from the tarmac when it was forced to pull up – but it made it down safely on the second try.
Image: A trampoline was blown on to lines between Glasgow Central and Edinburgh
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Gusts of 115mph were recorded at Cairngorm Summit in the Highlands, while Brizlee Wood, near Alnwick in Northumberland, saw 81mph.
About 40,000 households were affected by electricity outages in the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire.
But nearly all were reconnected by Thursday evening, said operator Northern Powergrid.
Elsewhere, a man was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after a tree hit his car in Clifton, Derbyshire. Police in the county said a number of trees had fallen on the road.
Storm Pia, named by Danish forecasters, is set to move towards mainland Europe where its effect is expected to be more severe, said the Met Office.
Flood warnings remain across England after days of heavy rain, though dryer conditions are forecast in the coming days.
As of 9.30am on Sunday, 41 flood warnings are in place in England (meaning flooding is expected), particularly along the south coast from Weymouth to Bexhill, where heavy rain fell on saturated ground on Saturday.
It comes after Storm Ciaran battered the south coast and the Channel Islands with heavy rain and gusts of up to 104mph on Thursday, leaving nearly 150,000 homes without power.
There are another 159 alerts – warning flooding is possible – with only the North West and far North East unaffected in England, while no active flood warnings are in Scotland.
Showers will mostly be in the western coastal counties on Sunday, with dry and brighter conditions in the east and no weather warnings currently issued.
There were also flood warnings near Godalming in Surrey, for the River Ouse at York and the River Waveney from Diss to Bungay in East Anglia.
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0:52
East Sussex and southeast Ken could receive 30-45mm of rainfall according to the Met Office
Other warnings remained on the River Witham near Lincoln, in the area of Marchington in east Staffordshire, and the River Dene at Walton.
There is one flood warning in place in Wales on Sunday morning, according to Natural Resources Wales, with flooding expected along the River Ritec at Tenby, Pembrokeshire.
Alerts that flooding is possible also affect South Pembrokeshire.
Read more: ‘Terrifying’ Storm Ciaran leaves cars smashed on Jersey Five killed and cars washed away in Italy as storm sweeps across Europe
The south of England saw the worst of Storm Ciaran, with strong winds battering coastal areas of Kent, and flooding across parts of Hampshire, Sussex, Devon and Cornwall.
There was also major disruption to the UK’s travel network, with ferries cancelled, roads flooded and bridges closed over concerns about high winds.
Hundreds of schools closed in Hampshire, Southampton, the Isle of Wight and across Devon and Cornwall due to the storm on Thursday, while all schools have closed on the island of Jersey.
A warning for heavy rain and showers is in force across southern England – with more than 200 flood alerts issued nationwide.
The Met Office yellow alert comes days after Storm Ciaran battered the same area with rain, flooding and winds of up to 100mph.
The ground is still saturated in many places, raising the likelihood of travel disruption.
A large swathe of the South – from Cornwall to Kent, and as far as south London – is covered by the warning from 5am on Saturday until midnight.
Up to 40mm (1.57in) of rain is possible.
Spray and flooding could make car journeys tricky – and bus and train services could be affected too, according to the Met Office.
It said large waves could also cause dangerous conditions on some coastal stretches.
Image: The warning is in force from 5am on Saturday until midnight. Pic: Met Office
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Chief forecaster Frank Saunders called it “fairly typical autumnal weather” – but rain falling on already sodden ground was partly why the warning had been issued.
However, it’s better news for people heading out for Bonfire Night, with Mr Saunders predicting a “largely dry and settled” Sunday – albeit colder than last week.
Image: A car struggles through a flooded road in Yapton, West Sussex, earlier this week
Image: Newhaven harbour wall in East Sussex, pictured on Thursday
Storm Ciaran was still causing some knock-on problems for the railways on Friday.
LNER, which runs the line between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh Waverley, advised passengers not to travel until Saturday.
Delays and cancellations were expected because trains and staff were out of position due to power failures.
Other operators also warned of disruption as they cleared debris off tracks.
Image: Flood warnings and alerts are also in place across the UK. Pic: Environment Agency
Storm Ciaran had now moved into the North Sea – but its southern edge has caused chaos in parts of Italy.
Official said six people died and two were missing after rivers in Tuscany burst their banks following torrential rain overnight into Friday.
There were fears that Florence could be flooded, but the historic city avoided any major incidents.
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Tuscany hit by flooding after heavy rain
Italian Civil Protection officials said 200mm (7.87in) of rain fell in a three-hour period stretching from Livorno on the western coast to the inland valley of Mugello.
Tuscany’s president, Eugenio Giani, said it had never had so much rain in such a short space of time.
He told Sky TG24 that experts believe it was the worst downpour in 100 years.
“What happened overnight in Tuscany has a clear name: CLIMATE CHANGE,” he wrote on X.