UK weather has worsened again and while most flood warnings still remain in place, the Met Office expects 70mph gale force winds which have already damaged many parts of England, Scotland and Wales to cause further destruction this weekend after widespread flooding forced several people to evacuate their homes.

The north-west gale winds wrecked havoc with displacing several tens of thousands of people while disrupting journeys by road and rail. The Met Office predicted gales of around 40-50mph would affect much of England, Wales and southern Scotland on Saturday and Sunday with gusts of up to 70mph in the south east. Heavy rains are expected to lash the UK which is likely to aggravate flooding, while the bad weather is likely to continue next Monday and Tuesday.

Weather forecasters predict colder but calmer weather for next week with the onset of snow. Yesterday, Midlands and south-west England bore the brunt of massive flooding and heavy rainfall. In the Sparkhill area of Birmingham, a roof blew off a mosque, damaging three cars, barely missing a passersby.

A section of the 200-year-old Great Western Canal crumbled in Halberton, Devon, which led to water gushing into fields. While several people were safely evacuated from this debacle, hundreds of homes were left without power in parts of the south-west as power lines were brought down by the high winds.

Dozens of schools were closed, while trains between Somerset and Devon were cancelled or delayed because part of the track was flooded and there were also problems in Hampshire after a train hit a branch that had fallen across the line.

Floods in Somerset was feared as the ground was sodden due to heavy rains combined with a high tide. An RNLI lifeboat was arranged on the Somerset Levels in case of severe flooding. Parish councils across Somerset were asked to turn village halls into makeshift shelters.

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