UK weather latest: Thundery showers to sweep across Britain in wake of Storm Freya

Reprieve from weekend snow and gales short-lived as new front arrives from Atlantic

Heavy rain and thunderstorms are set to drive across the UK from the southwest late on Monday in the aftermath of Storm Freya.

The storm battered parts of the country over the weekend with snow, sleet and 80mph winds.

The coasts of Cornwall, Devon and West Sussex were hardest hit and forecasters warned the conditions posed a “danger to life” from high waves at the shore.

A yellow severe weather warning was still in effect first thing on Monday morning as powerlines and trees brought down by the gales continued to cause travel disruption, notably in Wales where two major roads were closed and in the Pennines where motorists were left stranded by snow on the A595 in Cumbria.

While the morning will be mostly dry and bright, the mild interlude will not last long: clearer skies will give way to intense southwesterly rains from the Atlantic as the evening rush hour commences, with hill snow and hail possible in northern areas.

More than a dozen flood alerts remain in place across the southwest, as well as two flood warnings, in anticipation of the new front’s arrival over Cornwall.

Met Office spokesman Emma Smith said: “By six o’clock on Monday the centre of Storm Freya will be out over the North Sea.

“There will still be outbreaks of rain, sleet and snow just clipping the coast by Newcastle and southern Scotland.

“Thereafter into Monday there will be plenty of sunshine around, then we will get a band of showery rain moving in from the southwest.

“That’s going to be moving across Devon and Cornwall first and moving into Wales and Northern Ireland through the morning.

“By the afternoon it will be into the Midlands and towards London with some hail and thunder. Northern and eastern areas will stay sunniest and it will be quite blustery as well, with some gale-force gusts in the west.”

The rain will move eastwards across Northern Ireland, northern England and Scotland on Tuesday while conditions will stay unsettled for the remainder of the week, according to forecasters.