Forecasters say Britain is set to be battered by five inches of rain and strong gusts, with ‘wet and windy weather for all areas’. It follows 21C sunshine last week
Britain faces five stormy spells in a horror run to Halloween. Five inches of rain and monster 60mph Autumn gales are expected in the next two weeks.
After the 21C Indian Summer sunshine last week, a string of 400 mile-wide Atlantic systems will bring wet and windy weather for most parts as highs limp to 13-15C.
And the worst of the conditions are due on Friday and Sunday with 60mph bone-chilling gusts in the west and 50mph in eastern areas. Met Office chief forecaster Chris Bulmer said: “High pressure will loosen its grip, allowing for lower pressure and Atlantic weather systems increasing the chance of wet and windy weather for all areas.”
Netweather forecaster Nick Finnis added: “Proper autumn is finally on its way for all parts, with deep low-pressure areas bringing spells of heavy rain and gales.”
Meanwhile, three further stormy periods are due next week with families on school half term and Halloween revellers facing a washout.
The Met Office will name Storm Austen when an Atlantic weather system has potential for amber warnings for wind and shivering showers.
And millions are set to turn their heating on for the first time, with nights falling to near-freezing in the North and single figures in the South.
The Met Office said unsettled weather is looking more likely through the rest of the month “with spells of wet and windy weather arriving from the Atlantic”. It added: “Stormy weather may also develop at times.”
It comes after boffins predicted a mega El Niño in the Pacific will spark wetter and warmer weather this autumn. World Meteorological Organization secretary-general Celeste Saulo said the climate bomb is “strengthening rapidly” and looked set to be one of the strongest in the past 70 years.
Meanwhile, farmers claim pumpkin patches have been significantly impacted by the summer drought with many crops struggling to grow and being much smaller. The summer saw widespread drought and several heatwaves and the Met Office declared it as the warmest in the UK since records began.
Liz Paterson and Andrew King have been running a successful pumpkin patch for several years at Ruffins Farm in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, but have not been able to offer any of the crop this year because the drought has “significantly” impacted the business.
Ms Paterson said: “The pumpkins just didn’t grow this year. We could have tried to irrigate, we have got water, but we also have 500 breeding ewes, so we needed to give the water to them.”
In previous years they have grown around 10,000 pumpkins, but this year around only 50 developed. “I think the weather was too hot as well, they just didn’t pollinate, so it just never worked at all really,” she added.