Get ready for Hurricane Ian! Fallout from US storm to batter Britain

The remnants of Hurricane Ian will batter Britain in the coming days with 60mph winds forecast as well as strong gale force winds, and heavy rain by the . 

Today, Hurricane Ian rapidly intensified off Florida’s south-west coast with top winds of 155mph, just short of the most dangerous Category 5 status. 

And this will cause torrential downpours to hit northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland particularly hard on Friday after the jet stream brings low pressure from the US to the west coast of the UK, which could cause damaging winds. 

Flooding may also affect parts of the country on Friday as high winds of around 55mph are likely in south-east England and up to 60mph elsewhere. 

This evening there will also be heavy rain and winds hitting southeast Scotland and northern England as temperatures creep back up to the mid-10Cs following Preston and Manchester seeing lows of 2C early this morning. 

The rain will mostly clear in the south by tomorrow which will also see some sunny spells and a scattering of showers before it turns on Friday. 

The Met Office suggests the impact will be felt across the Atlantic from the start of the weekend after forecasters revealed today that an area of cloud and rain will move south across England and Wales tonight. 

The Met Office has added that from Friday to Sunday it will be cool with heavy rain and strong winds spreading across the northwest to the southeast. 

Blustery showers will then follow, and there will possibly be prolonged rain in the south of the UK. 

Despite the increase in rain, only one flood alert – which means that flooding is possible – has been issued by the Environment Agency today. 

The Government body said this morning and evening will see strong winds and spring tides that could ’cause large waves and spray overtopping on the coast and on the Humber Estuary’. 

These ‘higher tides’ mean that low lying areas of the coast, in particular around Kilnsea village, could see some flooding. 

But Hurricane Ian has rapidly intensified off Florida’s south-west coast with top winds of 155mph, just short of the most dangerous Category 5 status, with the Met Office suggesting its impact will be felt across the Atlantic from Friday before mostly sunny spells and a few scattered showers on Thursday.

Speaking of the jet stream, Chris Almond, a meteorologist at the national weather service, said: ‘This will bring a much wetter and windier spell than we’ve seen so far this autumn, but nothing that is unusual for the time of year.

‘The fast-moving system will bring strong gale force winds, locally in excess of 60mph, and heavy rain into the north west before pushing quickly south east through the day.

‘We could see some minor impacts, such as surface water flooding or minor wind damage, as well as some short-lived impacts on ferry crossings, especially in exposed areas of western Scotland and eastern areas of Northern Ireland.

‘Later in the day, parts of south-east England could experience winds of around 55mph, which may impact the English Channel too.’

Areas such as Southampton and Plymouth on the south coast could see highs of 17C, Buy Verified TransferWise Account With IBAN – Waraccounts.Com 16C forecast in London and Cardiff, 15C in Belfast and 14C in Glasgow.

The Met Office said showers, which may turn heavy, will continue in southern areas on Saturday, with some sunny spells further north.

A spokeswoman at the Met Office told the MailOnline: ‘Today will be breezy with some showers, especially for more eastern areas of the UK.It’ll feel cool and breezy in any showers but warmer than recent days in the sunshine.

‘Thursday will see a cloudy start to the day, especially for central areas but a brighter and fine afternoon. Though there will be the odd shower for a few areas.

‘Friday will be a much more unsettled day with a strong winds and a spell of heavy rain spreading across the country. 

‘The winds will be strongest across the Northern and western Scotland as well as Northern Ireland where there may be severe gales.The winds will also be strong for a time along the south coast. 

‘The rain will be heavy but will push across the country quickly, thanks to the strong winds. The highest rainfall totals are expected over western high ground.’

Craig Snell, meteorologist at the Met Office, said:  ‘As we go through the next few days, it remains fairly changeable across the country.Showers to contend with as we go through Wednesday and Thursday before a spell of wet and windy weather moves in on Friday.  

‘Back to the hear and now, we’ve got an area of rain across Devon and Cornwall as we go through the course of the night.Elsewhere day time showers generally fading across inland areas but remaining fairly showery across coastal areas, Northern Ireland, Scotland, down the eastern seaboard of England and into Wales. 

‘Under the clearer skies, across western Scotland down into northwestern England and the midlands, temperatures here could fall down to low single figures but here tomorrow morning will start off on a fairly sunny and dry note where elsewhere we’ll see showers from the word go and these will be fairly widespread across the country. 

‘Later on in the afternoon we will see this area of rain creeping into southeastern Scotland and northeastern England giving a wetter end to the day here. 

‘But for all of us it should feel a little less chilly thanks to a slightly lighter northernly wind.So that area of rain will then sink its way southwards across much of the UK as the night goes on, some burst in it. Remaining driest among western Northern Ireland but for most a slightly less chilly night then of late but a few spots falling into mid-single figures. 

‘So first it starts fairly damp across the south of the country but that will quickly clear towards France and that will leave us with another day of sunny spells and showers but the showers will be a bit fewer and further in between than Wednesday. 

‘Hopefully, a little bit more in the way of sunshine for most of us and temperatures a little bit warmer again with most of us seeing highs of reaching around 15C to possibly 17C in the south. 

‘Then having a quick look at Friday, after this kinda slight brief drier spell on Thursday, another spell of wet and windy weather moves in from the Atlantic, especially in the West, a thoroughly soggy day for some of us. 

‘That clears through during Saturday but further frontal systems on their way and a fairly changeable start to the weekend.’