A major storm forecast to bring strong winds, heavy rain and snow across much of the UK on Tuesday has been named by The Met Office as Storm Chandra.
Flooding and travel disruption is likely in places, with significant snow expected across higher ground in some northern areas.
The Met Office has issued an amber alert for heavy rain in southwest England on Monday and Tuesday.
The region could see 30 to 50mm of rainfall and 60 to 80mm on higher ground, especially in south Dartmoor, increasing the risk of flooding in already saturated areas, the Met Office said.
There are also yellow alert rain warnings in place for more of England – including London, the South East and the South West – and parts of Wales and Northern Ireland on Monday.
Tuesday will bring more bad weather across the UK as Storm Chandra intensifies, with a patchwork of weather warnings blanketing much of the country.
An amber warning for wind has been issued for Northern Ireland on Tuesday, bringing gusts of 60 to 70 mph, reaching 75 mph in some coastal locations, the Met Office said.
Chief forecaster Paul Gundersen said the UK was facing a “complex spell of weather” as a deep area of low pressure moved in, and urged people to stay up to date with weather warnings.
“Initially strong winds will impact the Isles of Scilly, western Cornwall and southwest Wales which are still vulnerable after Storm Goretti, gusts of 70 to 80mph are possible here,” he said.
“Heavy rain is an additional hazard as it falls on saturated ground in Dorset and southern parts of Devon, Somerset and Cornwall.
“As Chandra interacts with colder air further north snow becomes a hazard, with 10 to 20cm of snow possibly accumulating over higher ground in the Pennines, southern Scotland and the Highlands.”
Yellow alerts are also in place for rain and snow in parts of Scotland, the Midlands, the North East and North West of England and Yorkshire on Tuesday.
Rain will turn to snow on higher ground, with 2 to 5cm falling in places above 300m elevation and 10 to 20cm falling above 500m.
The Met Office is warning of flooding, transport delays and cancellations, power cuts and landslides.
Some communities face the possibility of being cut off by flooded roads.
Storm Chandra arrives just days after Storm Ingrid battered parts of England’s southwest on Friday and Saturday.
Earlier in the month, Storm Goretti brought snow, rain and strong winds to much of the UK.
The weather system has been dubbed Storm Chandra because it is the next name on the list shared between the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands. Under the alphabetical list, the storm that comes afterwards will be named David.
Other recent storms were named by overseas naming centres, with Storm Goretti being named by weather service Meteo France and Portuguese authorities naming Storm Ingrid.
