UK weather: Storm Aiden brings heavy rain and strong winds to Britain
Met Office issues several flood warnings
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Your support makes all the difference.Halloween has brought howling winds as Storm Aiden and the remnants of Hurricane Zeta batter Britain over the weekend.
Rain and strong gusts across the nation have seen the Met Office issue several weather warnings for Ireland and the west coast of England, Scotland and Wales, where travel disruption and potential power cuts are expected.
Marco Petagna, a Met Office forecaster, said flooding could happen “almost anywhere” and that Storm Aiden was expected to bring wet and windy weather to all parts of the UK, moving from the west to the east throughout Saturday.
Scotland is set to be the worst-hit by floods, as there are 12 warnings in place for areas on the west coast, and regions including Dundee and Angus, Tayside and Orkney islands.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has also issued 11 flood alerts for areas where flooding is likely.
The Environment Agency has issued 17 flood alerts for areas scattered across England from Cumbria to Bournemouth, and Natural Resources Wales has put 33 alerts in place.
For southern areas, including London and the Home Counties, this weekend marks a rainy end to what could be the wettest month on record.
Meanwhile, up to 75mph winds could hit the islands off Scotland, and strong, possibly squally southerly winds will bring 60-65mph gusts on exposed coasts and hills.
Lifeguards rescued a man at 5am on Saturday morning after his yacht was capsized by a “large freak wave” off the Isles of Scilly, southwest England.
Falmouth Coastguard’s helicopter and an RNLI lifeboat rescued the French man and his 34-foot yacht six miles from the coast.
Ian Guy, the duty controller at the National Maritime Operations Centre, said the skipper of the vessel was uninjured.
The blustery winds are expected to die down on Saturday night, making way for some clear spells, apart from in Scotland.
But Sunday will bring more rain coming in from the southwest, again affecting the whole of the UK.
Mr Petagna said: “This is gradually quietening down coming into next week, when we will see a big change towards more settled weather.”
Additional reporting by Press Association
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