Wet and windy weather forecast to continue into weekend

Wet and windy weather is set to continue throughout the weekend with the possibility of snow early next week.

Storm Erik brought strong winds to parts of the country on Friday and will be followed by rain and more unsettled weather, according to the Met Office.

“We’re looking at winds of 50 to 60mph in Northern Ireland and the west of Scotland.

“Even away from the strongest gusts we could still have gale-force winds.”

Wet weather will follow later as rain moves in across the UK, and some of it could be heavy at times.

Police in Dorset were called on Friday morning after a tree fell on to a double-decker bus.

Police were called to the scene on Ringwood Road in Poole shortly before midday. No injuries were reported.

There are also a number of bridge closures in place as a result of the bad weather.

The Severn Bridge partially closed as a result of high winds. The bridge connecting England and Wales is closed to all vehicles heading eastbound, and closed westbound to all high-sided and vulnerable vehicles.

The Tamar Bridge between Devon and Cornwall is also closed to high-sided and vulnerable vehicles in both directions.

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

There will be frost and the chance of some snow in the north of the country towards the end of the weekend when falling rain meets cold air.

Forecasting Sunday’s weather, Ms Maxey said: “There is the chance of patchy rain and this could be heavy in places.

“Because of the cold air, this could fall as snow on higher ground in Scotland and England on Sunday.

“We’re expecting a widespread frost on Sunday night and into Monday, and the unsettled weather will continue into the start of next week.”

Storm Erik was named by Irish forecaster Met Eireann on Thursday.