More bad weather set to hit the North West

Following a wet and windy start to the week, Tuesday brought a respite for most of the country but forecasters said it would be a short-lived break.

The Met Office said a cold front will bring high winds and rain down through Scotland overnight on Tuesday and into Wednesday.

This will move south into Northern Ireland, northern England and North Wales - bringing prolonged rain to many of these areas, with the heaviest bouts on Wednesday afternoon.

No formal weather warning has yet been issued but forecasters say wind gusts could reach 40mph to 50mph in some places, accompanied by heavy showers.

Met Office meteorologist Emma Sharples: "It's really nothing particularly unusual for this time of the year but it does come after the windy weather we had yesterday.

"The good news is that Thursday and Friday are looking quite a lot better for most people."

Earlier this week, bookies cut the odds on this being the wettest October on record as the month began with heavy rain and gale-force winds leading to severe weatherwarnings.

People were urged to keep an eye on the forecast as the weather is being influenced by what is left of tropical systems Lee and Maria in the Atlantic.

Bookmaker Coral even began offering odds of 5-2 for there to be snow in October.

On Tuesday morning, the Environment Agency had three flood alerts in force but all these related to predicted high tides on the east coast of England.