Wild weather forecast to herald 2014

PARTY-GOERS out celebrating the new year may well avoid a drenching tonight, but further rain and gales are expected to herald the start of 2014.

Thousands of people across the UK are still recovering after storms last week caused widespread misery, with power cuts and flooding ruining Christmas for scores of families.

And forecasters say there is more bad weather to come, with the Met Office issuing a severe weather warning for rain on New Year's Day, affecting southern England and western Scotland.

The heavy rain has already caused problems on the roads, with the A76 at Kirkconnel closed and flooding on the A74 and A75, and a landslide on the A7 just south of Langholm closed the road for a short while

The latest bad weather is set to push in from the Atlantic, crossing the UK from west to east. Rain today is not expected to be as heavy as in recent days, but with the ground already saturated some minor flooding is likely, the Met Office said.

Gusts of up to 50mph could also bring unpleasant travel conditions, but the worst of the bad weather should be out of the way before evening.

Met Office spokesman Dan Williams said: "There is a big band of rain that will bring persistent rain to most parts of the UK through the day on Wednesday. It will be a pretty wet and windy day.

"It won't be on a par with the winds we've seen in some of the recent storms, but exposed areas of the western coast and some of the south coast will see speeds of 50 to 60mph.

“There could be a fair amount of rain in the south and south west of England, with 10-20mm falling fairly widely, and up to 40mm in coast areas."

The Environment Agency added in a statement: "People travelling this week are reminded to check the latest flood updates ahead of making journeys and should not drive through dangerous floodwater."

By Press Association reporter