Storm Mathis: Torrential weather hits the UK with 70mph winds and heavy rain amid Met Office flood warnings

Storm Mathis has arrived on UK shores seeing the country being  battered by heavy 70mph winds and torrential rainfall. It follows Met Office flood warnings with the French-named squall potentially bringing “structural damage to buildings” also.

The cyclonic low pressure system was named by Mateo France - the French Met Office - on Thursday (March 30) as it has made its way over the channel to affect parts of southern England and Wales.  It is warned the storm could cause flash flooding to some areas.

The Met Office forecast reads: “A deep area of low pressure is expected to move eastwards across southern Britain during Thursday evening and Friday morning, bringing spells of strong southerly winds, then a lull, followed by strong west or north westerly winds.

“It is likely that coastal areas will see 50-60 mph gusts, with a low probability of 70mph over exposed hills and headlands with winds probably peaking after they veer west or north westerly. This could lead to some disruption in places. Along with the strong winds, we will also see heavy rain overnight clearing as the low progresses eastwards.”

It is reported that the strong and wild winds have been caused by an area of low pressure that has made its way to the UK from an area of northern France.

The Met Office flood warnings that have already been issued across affected areas note that the weather could bring power cuts, as well as the winds possibly causing trees to fall down. The public are also being warned of potential disruption to travel with delays expected to road, air, rail and ferry - so make sure to carefully plan any journey you make on Friday morning.