UK braced for travel chaos with weather warnings for heavy rain and 70mph winds
The UK is braced for heavy rain and 70mph winds which are likely to lead to travel disruption as people start to head home after Christmas.
Boxing Day will be sunny to start with plenty of sunshine and London could see highs of 10°C, remaining dry throughout the day.
Temperatures across the north of the UK will generally range between 4-6°C.
But conditions are set to turn wet and windy towards the end of the day – and become more unsettled on Wednesday.
Met Office meteorologist Greg Dewhurst said: “As we head into the evening time on Boxing Day, we’ll see the cloud and the rain slowly spill its way north-eastwards,” he said.
“Some heavy rain developing, particularly across Wales into parts of Northern Ireland, and later on, northern England.”
Mr Dewhurst said that the rain could turn into snow in some areas.
“Bumping into some cold air it could give some temporary snow across the far north of the Pennines into southern parts of Scotland,” he said.
Yellow warnings for rain, wind, snow and ice have been issued for areas across the UK.
A yellow rain warning is in place across northern England between 3am and 6pm on Wednesday.
While rain and snow warnings cover much of Scotland between 6am and midnight.
Wales has a rain warning between midnight and 6pm, and south-west and coastal parts of southern England have one in place from midnight until 3pm.
A yellow weather warning for wind covering areas in Essex and the south of England is in place from 3am until 6pm.
The Met Office said: “Gusts are likely to reach 50-60 mph fairly widely, with a risk of 65-70 mph across some exposed headlands. Disruption or delays to transport are possible.”
People travelling in the areas affected by the yellow weather warnings have been urged to take extra care.
“It’s likely that some coastal routes, sea fronts and coastal communities will be affected by spray and/or large waves,” the Met Office said.
The weather conditions will probably affect some bus and train services, causing some journeys to take longer than usual.
It is also possible that there will be instances of short-term power cuts.
Forecasters officially declared 25 December a white Christmas as snow fell across parts of Scotland.
Elsewhere, temperatures were unusually mild. A reading of 13.6°C at Exeter Airport made it the mildest Christmas Day since 2016.
