UK weather forecast: Storm Diana expected to lash Britain with heavy rain and gales

Bad weather will sweep in from Tuesday, Met Office says

Britain can expect a “major change” in the weather over the coming days as Storm Diana sweeps in from the Atlantic, forecasters have warned.

Met Office forecasters are predicting the weather front, which is still hundreds of miles away, will build over the coming days before reaching Britain on Wednesday.

The storm will cause heavy rain and gales over western parts of the UK from the middle of the week, following a smaller front of bad weather set to arrive on Tuesday.

Dan Harries, the Met Office’s deputy chief meteorologist, said: “It now looks very likely that we will see a major change in the UK’s weather early in the week ahead.

“We expect spells of wet and windy weather to sweep across the UK from the southwest from Tuesday, although at the moment there is uncertainty around the timing and the focus for the heaviest rain and strong winds by Wednesday as Storm Diana approaches our shores.”

Wind speeds could reach 60mph and some areas could see as much as 80mm of rain in just two days.

But forecasters believe Diana will move through quite quickly, so the bad weather is not expected to last beyond 48 hours.

Temperatures will remain mild despite the stormy conditions, with highs of 15C possible in southeast, five degrees higher than the average for this time of year.

But before Diana hits Britain the mercury is set to plummet, causing frost and patches of fog, particularly overnight.