Tree-toppling gales to ravage UK

Weather: tree-toppling gales to ravage UK
Heavy rain and severe gales are set to batter parts of the UK later this week.

Forecasters warned that the winds could be strong enough to damage buildings and topple trees and would likely persist.

The whole country will experience strong winds and rain on Wednesday but north western parts of Scotland will bear the brunt of the most ferocious weather.

On Friday, the unsettled conditions will return, with northern parts of the UK again hit the hardest.

The unsettled weather will be triggered by an unusually powerful jet stream expected to drag storms in from the Atlantic.

Mark Wilson, a Met Office forecaster, said: "It is going to be very unsettled on Wednesday and potentially again on Friday.

“We could see gales, severe gales or even stronger gusts in exposed areas of the north with heavy rain, which because of the strength of the winds will move through quite quickly.”

He said that on Wednesday, the whole country would see rain and strong winds reaching 50pmh but exposed coastal and mountainous areas and would experience stronger gales of up to 70mph. Most of the rain will fall in western areas.

Chris Burton, forecaster for The Weather Network, said: “Friday looks likely to see the stormiest conditions of the week as a rapidly deepening area of low pressure is expected to pass just to the north of Scotland.

"There is a lot of uncertainty at the moment regarding the strength of the winds, but disruptive gusts are expected in the far north of Scotland, perhaps reaching 80mph in places.

"The wet and windy conditions are then set to continue through the weekend and into next week."

Despite the severe winds, temperatures are expected to remain relatively mild for January and could reach 14C in some parts.