Flooding and gale force winds set to dampen Christmas preparations

A series of severe weather warnings have been issued by the Met Office

Christmas Shoppers brave rain and thunder storms to hunt for gifts at Oxford Circus (Mary Turner/Getty Images)

Shoppers attempting to make last-minute purchases for Christmas face a battering from wind and rain sweeping across the country.

A series of severe weather warnings have been issued by the Met Office with flooding and gale force winds set to dampen festive preparations.

Heavy rain will affect southern England and Wales on Saturday and with many areas already saturated there is a risk of localised flooding.

Conditions relent on Sunday but on Monday and Tuesday a fresh front of high winds and heavy rain sweeps in from the west.

Southern parts of England are likely to be the worst hit, getting a wintry blast of both strong wind and heavy rain. Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and north west England are forecast to get high winds.

A Met Office statement cautioned: “A very deep area of low pressure will bring very strong winds and heavy rain to much of the UK from Monday morning, through to late Tuesday morning.

“There is the potential for widespread gales with gusts of 70 mph for much of Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, southern and northwest England. Gusts of 80-90 mph are possible, with the greatest likelihood of these values across west Scotland.

“The public should be aware of the potential for significant disruption to travel due to the very strong winds and also the risk of some flooding issues thanks to the heavy rain.”