UK Weather – Brits brace for travel misery as rain to lash country and train staff to strike

BRITS are set for a soaking as rain will lash the country over the weekend – with train strikes set to further dampen spirits.

Thunderstorms are set to cause chaos on Friday morning with torrential rain and howling winds set to continue battering Britain on Saturday.

BNPS

Drivers brave driving through a flooded road in Bournemouth[/caption]

LNP

A woman jumps over large puddle of rainwater in north London[/caption]

LNP

City workers on London Bridge brave the cold and rain from the aftermath of Storm Claudio[/caption]

The Met Office issued a yellow thunderstorm warning for the south-east until 6am on Friday.

It means flooding is likely as well as damage to some buildings and structures from lightning strikes, transport delays, and power cuts.

Brits should brace for more travel chaos as the wild weather will bring disruption and delays to train services throughout the morning.

Spray and flooding on roads will increase journey times to work, with homes and businesses at risk of serious water damage.

Parts of the country will then see further rainfall during the day on Friday, which will start cold and frosty, before heavier, more widespread downpours over the weekend.

And many areas are set to be lashed with rain over the weekend as temperatures turn colder – with train strikes on Saturday set to bring more travel misery.

Aidan McGivern, of the Met Office, said: “Across the rest of the UK a ridge of high pressure is building in, the isobars are opening out and so lighter winds, clear skies and temperatures falling away.

“A few mist and fog patches first thing in places, but also low temperatures, low single figures and in some areas, a touch of air frost could get as low as minus 3C across sheltered parts of northern UK.

“Still some showers in the western fringes and showery rain, which will be slow to clear in the south-east corner where there could be some heavy rain until mid-morning.

“Eventually, it does clear and then blue skies for many except for the west, and specifically the north-west, and the exposed coasts where there will be some further showers coming through, not as lively as we’ve seen at times during the week.”

He said temperatures will remain lower than recently seen during the day, before bands of rain move in from the west on Saturday.

The Met Office website said: “Rain spreading east on Saturday, after a chilly start in the east.

“Rain then lingering across southeast England on Sunday; sunshine and showers, locally heavy, elsewhere.”

©Graham Hunt

A dog walker on the beach getting battered by the strong gusty winds as stormy seas crash ashore at West Bay in Dorset[/caption]

LNP

A broken down white BMW in flood water in Aylesford, Kent[/caption]

LNP

A woman sheltering from the rain in Greenwich[/caption]