Britain Braces For More Wind And Rain

Britain is braced for more unsettled, windy conditions with storms preparing to sweep across England and Wales later this week. There are fears flooding could also become an issue, especially in the west, as low pressure areas bring further spells of rain and snow. Winds have eased slightly but are due to pick up again on Thursday and Friday, with the potential for severe gales or storm force gusts.Southern Britain was particularly windy on Monday night, with gusts of up to 70mph along the Channel coast and there was also some intense rain.This has cleared from the southeast now, leaving Britain and Ireland with a chilly, windy day with frequent heavy and wintry showers.Snow is likely to settle over the higher ground across Wales, the Midlands and northern England. It will become windy again later with gusts topping 60mph across northern and northeast England.For Scotland and Ireland, it is looking very windy across northwestern parts with 70 to 80mph gusts and there will be plenty of heavy showers with heavy snow over the hills.The Met Office has said it is keeping a close eye on the developing situation. It has also issued severe weather warnings for snow for eight regions of Scotland.Strong winds of up to 80mph are possible across Argyll and Bute, with slightly weaker gusts through the centre of the country.Heavy snow above 200m could lead to blizzard conditions on higher ground and the Scottish transport minister has warned snow and winds could cause traffic disruption. During the late afternoon and evening, more prolonged rain and hill snow will spread south into central and southern Scotland and some snow is possible at low levels.Wednesday will be cold and wintry with some icy patches first thing. The showers will be of rain, sleet and snow with snow mainly over high ground.During Thursday and Friday, conditions are set to become stormy again with severe gales or storm force winds likely to bring some damage and disruption. Once this low sweeps east on Friday, it will turn colder and icier with frequent snow showers in northern and northwestern parts to take us into the weekend.