An autumnal feel to the weather has arrived with a spell of wet and windy conditions sweeping across much of the UK and prompting warnings to be issued.
The Met Office has issued weather alerts for some regions of Britain as Storm Lilian heads to the UK and threatens travel disruption, power cuts and large waves in coastal areas.
We take a look at what is in store weather-wise and why there has been such a dramatic change.
Why is it so windy today?
A westerly airflow and a strengthened jet stream are being held responsible for bringing wet and windy weather to some regions.
Storm Lilian is sweeping in from the West before moving northeast early on Friday morning, bringing strong winds for northern England and Wales, as well as parts of southern Scotland.
Met Office Chief Meteorologist Jason Kelly said: “Storm Lilian will bring some potentially damaging gusts during Friday morning, with gusts widely in the 50-60mph range, with the possibility of some gusts in excess of 75mph in a few places.
“There’s associated rainfall with Lilian that has also resulted in a Met Office warning for parts of Scotland.
“Within the warning area, another 50mm of rain is possible over high ground, with 20-30mm falling quite widely. Much of this is falling on saturated ground so increases the chance of some surface water flooding.”
Lilian is then expected to move into the North Sea on Friday morning, leaving blustery conditions and scattered showers.
Hurriance Ernesto, which hit Bermuda last weekend, has moved across the Atlantic and forecasters say the remnants of this system played a background role in some of the rainfall we saw on Wednesday and Thursday.
Met Office Chief Meteorologist Jason Kelly said: “While Ernesto itself will have dissipated by the time it reaches the UK, left over warm air and moisture will help to pep up some of the rainfall totals in the northwest in the coming days.”
Where are weather warnings in place?
The Met Office has a weather warning in place for rain on the east coast of Scotland from Aberdeen to Perth from 9pm on Thursday until 9am on Friday.
The alert is for a period of heavy rain which could lead to flooding.
A second rain warning is in place for the same period of time in south-west Scotland from Wigtown to Dumfries, also leading to possible flooding.
And Storm Lilian will bring strong winds and another weather warning for much of the north of England on Friday morning from 5am to 11am, with the potential for travel disruption and infrastructure damage.
The warning covers most of northern England and North Wales and a part of south-west Scotland, from Newcastle upon Tyne across to Carlisle and down as far as Lincoln and Liverpool.
Forecasters say the high winds could cause some damage to buildings, such as tiles blown from roofs.
There could also be power cuts if lines are brought down, some roads and bridges may have to close and road, rail, air and ferry services could be affected.
On the coast, the storm is expected to cause large waves which could affect seafront properties and roads.
What is the latest UK forecast?
The current forecast from the Met Office is for rain moving south-eastwards throughout Thursday, with sunny spells and blustery showers following across the North and West.
Although it will be very windy during the morning, this is expect to ease through the day.
Temperatures are likely to remain cool for this time of year.
During the evening, rain will arrive from the West spreading eastwards overnight and becoming heavy at times.
Winds will also strengthen overnight, turning gusty by dawn.
Friday will bring a tale of two halves. Heavy rain is forecast across much of the UK which will gradually clear during the morning, followed by blustery showers and sunny spells.
While across Wales and southern England, it will be largely dry until the evening, despite a windy to start to the day.
The outlook is set to improve in parts of the country as we head into the bank holiday weekend.
Although forecasters say the wet weather could prevail across most of the UK on Saturday, parts of the South and East can expect drier, settled conditions for Sunday and Monday.
Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist Nick Silkstone said: “Early Saturday will likely see heavy rainfall across southern and south-eastern parts of England, but his should clear by mid-afternoon, with just a few showers following.
“Thereafter through to Monday, many southern and eastern areas will remain dry and fine, but temperatures will be at or even a touch below average.”
But it will be a different story for north-western areas.
He added: “Following a wet August so-far for the area, the North West will continue to see periods of frequent showers, rain and strong winds.”
What causes wind?
Wind is air in motion, which is travelling between areas of different atmospheric pressure, according to experts at the Met Office.
Atmospheric pressure is a measure of the “weight” of air pressing down on the Earth’s surface.
The greater the mass of air above us, the higher the pressure we feel and vice-versa.
The differences in air pressure on the Earth’s surface are caused by the rising and sinking of air in the atmosphere.
Where the air is sinking, we see higher pressure. And where it rises, we see lower pressure at the Earth’s surface.
Air on the Earth’s the surface will always want to move from a high pressure area to a low pressure area to equalise the difference and this movement is what we call wind.
