Storm Ali: Torrential rain and powerful winds forecast as UK battered by deadly 102mph gusts

New weather system moving in from Atlantic set to bring downpours and gusts

Strong winds and rain are set to batter parts of the British Isles once again with forecasters warning of more travel disruption and possible flooding.

It follows havoc caused by the wild weather and 102mph winds brought by Storm Ali on Wednesday, when two people were killed.

A Swiss holidaymaker died after a caravan was blown off a cliff on Ireland’s west coast while she slept inside. And a contractor for Northern Ireland Water was killed by a falling tree in a country park in County Armagh.

Storm Ali cleared the UK on Wednesday night. But the Met Office warned the "danger to life" continued as a new weather system moving in from the Atlantic was expected to bring downpours and gusts to Wales and much of England on Thursday.

Forecasters urged people to take care outside as the risk from felled trees, flying branches and tiles blown from buildings remains.

A yellow weather warning for rain across Wales and the north of England is in place, while a warning for winds of up to 65mph kicks in from 6pm across much of the rest of England.

Up to 100mm of rain is forecast to fall across high ground in Wales and Cumbria.

Met Office meterologist Laura Paterson said: “Through Thursday another area of low pressure will develop and approach the UK from the south west, bringing rain and a second spell of strong winds later.”

The Swiss woman killed after the caravan she was sleeping in was blown down a rocky incline in County Galway Elvira Ferraii.

She is believed to have been in her 50s and had been staying at the remote spot in Clifden ecoBeach Camping and Caravan Park for several weeks.

The man killed in Gullion Forest Park in County Armagh has not yet been named. A co-worker was also injured by the falling tree.

In Cheshire, a woman was seriously injured after a tree fell onto her car. And in the Scottish Highlands a man had to be rescued after becoming trapped under a digger in a river in the village of Rogart.

Engineers across Scotland – badly hit by Storm Ali – have been clearing up the damage, removing debris from railway lines and restoring power supplies.

Normal transport services were set to return north of the border on Thursday morning after road and rail links were disrupted.

More than 70,000 homes in Scotland were hit by power cuts on Wednesday, while 250,000 properties in Ireland also suffered outages.

The unsettled weather is due to last the rest of the week and is caused by a jet stream from Canada, according to Met Office forecasters.