UK weather forecast: Heavy rain and wind to ease as Storm Bronagh moves away from UK

Second name storm of the season left fallen trees and flooding in its wake, causing disruption on roads and rail

Heavy rainfall and strong winds caused travel misery and widespread disruption as the second named storm of the year swept across the UK, just hours after the first.

Fallen trees and flooding blocked roads and rail routes after Storm Bronagh moved eastwards across Wales and England over Thursday night.

It came hot on the heels of Storm Ali, which lashed the UK with 100mph winds on Wednesday, leaving two people dead.

Bronagh’s downpours and powerful gusts are set to ease over the weekend as the weather system moves over the North Sea, forecasters said.

Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge said the storm’s power was “waning” on Friday night and was mostly restricted to offshore areas in the northeast.

He said: “We have got reasonably good weather conditions anticipated over the next few days, given that Storm Bronagh is now leaving our shores. It exited the northeast last night and in the early hours of the morning into the North Sea, although the back end of the storm will still cause heavy winds in offshore areas in the northeast.

“Its influence over the weather picture is waning, and in truth it is only really going to be impacting upon those offshore northeastern areas.”

A mixture of sunshine and showers across the country is predicted for the coming days, with some strong winds still anticipated.

Saturday is expected to bring rain moving from the southwest into the southeast and the midlands as the day draws on. On Sunday, forecasters expect the arrival of another low pressure system, although Mr Madge said it will be “perhaps not as bad as first feared”.

At its worst, Bronagh brought heavy rain and showers as it swept across the country, with 78mph gusts recorded overnight in the Needles on the Isle of Wight.

Parts of Wales were badly hit by the downpours, with Bala in Gwynedd and Capel Curig in Conwy recording 58.2mm and 58mm of rainfall respectively over a 12-hour period stretching from Thursday evening to Friday morning.

In Cynghordy, Carmarthenshire, footage surfaced of a car floating along a fast-flowing river, in what police described as “incredible weather conditions”.

Sheffield saw nearly half a month’s rainfall in 24 hours, and images posted on social media showed flooding on a number of roads and at the city’s train station overnight.

Speed restrictions were in place for many trains across the network in England and Wales due to high winds, which were forecast to reach between 45mph and 50mph across much of the country.

Commuters in Wales faced some of the most severe delays, after Bronagh caused flooding on the lines between Machynlleth and Aberystwyth, and near Mountain Ash.

Some Southeastern rail services were delayed after a train hit a tree at Maidstone East early on Friday, and services in the southwest were operating with delays on a number of routes thanks to fallen trees and enforced speed restrictions.

In cricket’s County Championship, Somerset were forced to abandon their clash with Surrey after wind blew off the covers and caused an unfit playing surface.

On Friday morning, the Environment Agency had 27 flood alerts in place – the lowest level of the three-tier warning system.

The alerts cover a number of rivers in northern England and as far south as the River Wye in Herefordshire.