Heavy rain and 60mph gales to batter Britain this weekend

Britain is set to be battered by torrential rain and strong gales this weekend as music fans brave the bad weather at Lulworth Estate for Dorset's Bestival.

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Forecasters say some areas in the south of Britain could receive up to 1.6 inches, the Daily Mail reports.

For Saturday, the Met Office predicts "a day of sunshine and heavy showers, these blustery in the west and south with brisk winds, but slower moving in the east."

It adds that the showers may merge at times, with the risk of hail and thunder. On Saturday night, the showers will fade before rain returns to the northwest by dawn.

Sunday will see a bright start in the east, before rain spreads across the country, with the heaviest in the northwest. Heavy showers will follow and winds will strengthen with gales in the west.

Met Office forecasters say next week will bring strong winds and heavy showers with hail and thunder on Monday, sunny spells and fewer showers on Tuesday, but blustery showers on Wednesday.

Oli Claydon at the Met Office told the Daily Express: "The weekend will become wet and windy as a couple of low pressure systems move across the country.

"Winds will pick up on Saturday morning and on Sunday the whole of the country will turn windy with gusts of more than 50 knots (57mph) possible across Wales and the southwest.

"It is a generally wet and windy picture into the start of next week."

Meanwhile, autumn is expected to be hotter than summer, with highs of 32C, according to experts.

Speaking to the Daily Star, The Weather Outlook forecaster Brian Gaze said: "It would be a freak occurrence - but September could well have a hotter UK average temperature than August this year, with forecast models showing much warmer than average temperatures for the UK for September."

This freak weather phenomenon has only occurred once in the last 60 years, according to Met Office records.

The Met Office says: "For September and September-November, above-average temperatures are more probable than below-average."