UK and Ireland warned as low pressure brings rain and gales

The Met Office and Ireland's Met Éireann have issued a series of yellow weather warnings as a deepening area of low pressure from the North Atlantic brings heavy rain and strong winds across large parts of the UK and Ireland from this weekend into next week. The alerts cover most of England and Wales from 8pm on Sunday to 6pm on Monday, while separate status yellow rain warnings in Ireland affect counties in the west and southwest on Thursday and into midweek.

Forecasters said most of England and Wales are likely to feel west or southwesterly gusts of 45 to 55 miles per hour, with exposed coastal and hill locations at risk of stronger gusts. Some agencies warned that the most exposed sites could see gusts of 70 to 80 miles per hour, and the Met Office recorded gusts near the upper end of that range overnight on Sunday. Officials cautioned that the blustery conditions could lead to transport delays, large waves on coasts, short term power cuts and localized flooding.

Paul Gundersen, chief meteorologist at the Met Office, said the agency had been monitoring a deepening low pressure system that might bring impactful weather to the UK on Sunday and Monday, but that, at present, a...