31 October 2021

Strong gusts from the west to bring a ‘wild start’ to Sunday

31 October 2021

Strong gusts coming in from the west will bring a “wild start” to Sunday for many parts of the UK, the Met Office has said.

Wind speeds could reach more than 50 miles an hour, with potential for disruption and further wet weather going into the first week of November.

Yellow weather warnings for rain remain in place in several parts of the country overnight, including in Glasgow, where the global Cop26 climate summit is due to begin on Sunday.

Steven Keats, meteorologist at the Met Office, said conditions would start “going downhill” in the west throughout Sunday.

“Further West heavy rain will be picking up and there’ll be some heavy rain coming in from the Atlantic,” he said.

“That will dominate the weather into tomorrow.

An abandoned car in flood water near to Donyatt in Somerset (Andrew MAtthews/PA) (PA Wire)

“Heavy rain will push across into…western parts of England and Wales and be accompanied by some pretty strong and gusty winds.

Mr Keats said parts of Wales and southern England could see winds of around to 40 or 50 miles an hour which could “potentially cause problems.”

“It’ll be a pretty wild start to Sunday,” he said.

“Given the fact that trees are in full leaf and the ground is pretty saturated in many areas, you could get one or trees coming down.

“It’s going to be very unsettled.”

It comes as emergency services in Wales joined a multi-agency search following reports of people in distress in the water.

It was reported locally that those involved in the incident were paddleboarders.

Members of Heddlu Dyfed-Powys Police, Welsh Ambulance Service (WAS), fire and coast guard attended the scene on the river Cleddau in Haverfordwest.

Air support was provided by both the National Police Air Service (NPA ) and Wales Air Ambulance.

The incident was described as “distressing” and “a tragedy,” with local politicians passing on their support for those involved.

It comes after multiple flood warnings were issued on Saturday and some areas received more than a month’s worth of rain in 48 hours.

Mr Keats said that declining temperatures throughout next week would bring a “seasonal” feel and that weather would remain “unsettled,” though risks of “hefty downpours” remained.

“The most disruptive potential from the weather will be in the next 24 to 36 hours,” he said.

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