UK weather – live updates: ‘Danger to life’ warning as rain, wind and thunderstorms to batter Britain
Gusts could hit 50mph, say forecasters
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Your support makes all the difference.Flooding could turn deadly as thunderstorms, rain and high winds batter the UK, forecasters have warned.
Gusts could hit 50mph and the Met Office warned of disruption to travel by rail and road, adding that flooding could cut off some communities and pose a “danger to life” on Friday.
Scotland and the far north of England are bracing for damage and flash flooding caused by thunderstorms that are expected on Saturday.
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One local authority has had to suspend road improvement works due to the inclement weather.
Weather warnings will be cut back on Sunday to cover only northern England and Scotland, where meteorologists predict thunderstorms, and Monday is currently warning-free.
Highways England said motorists should check conditions before they travelled and "consider if their journey is necessary".
"In high winds, there's a particular risk to lorries, caravans and motorbikes so we'd advise drivers of these vehicles to slow down and avoid using exposed sections of road if possible," said Richard Leonard, head of road safety.
The RNLI has also warned people visiting the coast to beware of large waves and storms.
Additional reporting by PA
It's a wet one in the highlands of Scotland, as these images show.
But the Wallace Monument is still - just - visible from across the river in Stirling.
A couple of new warnings have come through from National Rail for customers in Liverpool and Glasgow this afternoon.
The Met Office are advising anyone leaving work soon to be careful on the roads, as heavy rain and showers could cause difficult driving conditions.
The Environment Agency has nine flood alerts in force (as of 4pm today) for the following areas:
Loughborough Urban Watercourses
Lower River Soar in Leicestershire
River Chew Catchment
River Cole and Dorcan Brook
River Leen and Day Brook in Nottinghamshire
River Maun in Nottinghamshire
River Sow and River Penk
Upper Avon River Swift and Clay Coton Brook
Upper River Swale
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has five flood warnings in place for Comrie, Innerpeffray to Bridge of Earn, Glen Lyon, Crieff to Innerpeffray and Carse of Lennoch to Lochlane.
SEPA also has 15 flood alerts currently in force, which you can find here.
Earlier this afternoon, the UCL Women’s Tour of Scotland announced it had suspended today’s stage of the inaugural competition due to “extreme weather conditions”.
“Rider safety is paramount and conditions were no longer safe to continue,” the organisers said in a statement.
However, Stage 2 of the race is still expected to commence in Glasgow tomorrow.
For anyone travelling home today, there has been a major power cut in London and the South East due to a “large scale National Grid failure”.
TfL Traffic News have warned that some traffic lights are down and advised people to be “very cautious on the roads”.
The power cut is not thought to be weather-related but may cause difficult driving conditions.
More on that story can be found here.
This live blog is shutting down for the night but you can find more breaking news on the UK power cuts live blog - which can be found below.
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