UK Edition
Strong winds and heavy rain will hit Britain later this week as a band of low pressure sweeps in from across the Atlantic, forecasters warned today.
Gales with gusts of up to 50mph, coming after Storm Stella caused chaos in the US this week, will spread from Friday.
The worst affected areas are predicted to be coastlines in southern England and the North West.
Met Office forecaster Emma Sharples said: "It is not going to be Stella by the time it comes here, the only thing we will see is quite a lot of warm air helping to increase the development of a low pressure system.
"After a few days of settled weather, the end of the week going into the weekend will become more unsettled."
She warned of heavy rain in places, but said there would be dry spells.
"We are not expecting to name the system, it will be just wet and windy weather - not atypical for this time of year," the forecaster added.
Rain is expected to start falling in London on Thursday, with the dismal drizzle expected to continue into Friday night.
The threat for showers across most of the country will likely continue into early next week.