UK weather forecast: Storm Erik to pummel Britain with 70mph winds and heavy rain, Met Office says

'There will be some quite nasty travelling conditions out there,' forecaster warns

Storm Erik is set to batter Britain with 70mph gales and heavy rain this weekend, with forecasters issuing severe weather warnings across large parts of the country.

A “danger to life” warning is in place as exposed parts of Northern Ireland brace for the strongest gusts, while heavy rain could lead to flooding in Scotland.

The Met Office has issued weather alerts for strong winds across Northern Ireland and western Scotland into Friday evening and for heavy rain in Scotland until Saturday afternoon.

Elsewhere, the Welsh and Cornish coasts could see winds of up to 55mph, while trhe rest of the south coast is expected to face similar conditions.

Meteorologist Sarah Kent warned the stormy weather could cause “quite nasty travelling conditions” over the weekend.

“It’s going to be a noticeably windy day everywhere Friday,” she said.

“And that is going to be in association with outbreaks of heavy rain too, so there will be some quite nasty travelling conditions out there this morning.”

There is expected to be a reprieve from the fiercest winds on Friday evening, but then gusts will pick up again around midnight, when a warning for wind will cover Northern Ireland, southern Scotland and much of Northern England.

Winds are expected to ease off by Sunday.

There will be sunshine and showers across Northern Ireland, Wales and central and southern England for much of Saturday and again for much of the UK on Sunday, although more persistent rain is likely in the south.

It will then be a cold start to the day on Monday before it turns dry and sunny for most.

Tuesday is expected to be another cold start with rain in the West later in the day.

Storm Erik was named by Irish forecaster Met Eireann on Thursday and brought winds of 56mph to Cork overnight.

The full list of storm names for 2018/2019 is: Ali, Bronagh, Callum, Deirdre, Erik, Freya, Gareth, Hannah, Idris, Jane, Kevin, Lily, Max, Niamh, Oliver, Peggy, Ross, Saoirse, Tristan, Violet and Wyn.

Naming storms has been proven to raise awareness of severe weather in the UK.

This year the first storm was given a male name, Ali, which will be followed by an alternating pattern of female and male names - a system established by the US National Hurricane Centre in the 1970s.

The alphabetical list of names skips Q, U, X, Y and Z to comply with international storm-naming conventions.

Additional reporting by Press Association