London warned of transport disruption as weather bomb 'explosion' lashes the south of England

Full force of the storm is not currently focused on the UK, says Met Office

A commuter loses control of his umbrella as he braves the wind and rain while crossing London Bridge in London (Reuters)

London has been warned of possible travel disruption as the effects of the Atlantic weather bomb sweep across the South of England.

Last night the Met Office said there was a possibility travel routes and power supplies being interrupted due to falling trees and high winds.

“The public should be aware of the risk of damage to trees, disruption to travel and possibly to power supplies, as well as a lot of surface water and spray on roads,” a warning from the official forecaster said.

Southeastern, First Capital Connect and South West Trains all warned of possible delays this morning and continuing into the day as trains took extra caution in the bad weather.

There are currently no weather-related delays on Transport for London services.

The 'weather bomb' just off the UK (Image courtesy of Magicseaweed)

The Met Office stressed that the UK was currently only indirectly feeling the force of the weather bomb and that its epicentre was to the west of the British Isles.

“It’s important to stress the UK is not being ‘hit’ by a weather bomb – the track of the low pressure system is well to the north of the UK, on roughly the same latitude as Iceland. We’re feeling its influence remotely,” the Met Office said in a blogpost on its website.

“This means we are not getting the very strongest winds associated with this system, but far north-western parts of the UK are seeing winds in the 70-80mph range as forecast.”

Wind speeds in the capital would not reach the levels they had in the north and west and the country, the forecaster said.

‘Weather bomb’ is another term for an ‘explosive cyclogenesis’ and describes a rapid fall of pressure in a region – a fall of more than 24 milibars in 24 hours.

There are believed to be between 45 and 65 of these events each year, with most of them occurring in the northern hemisphere.

More than 17,000 people were left without power on Wednesday as the storm struck the North and West of the UK, with some crew members having to be rescued from finish vessels.