Storm Chandra brings flooding and road closures with warnings across UK

Heavy rain and strong winds are hitting large parts of the UK, as Storm Chandra sweeps across the country bringing flooding and travel disruption.

Roads are closed and several rail services have been disrupted in the south-west of England, an area covered by several warnings including an amber alert for rain.

Yellow alerts for snow are in place for parts of Scotland and northern England, while much of the UK has been warned to expect heavy rain.

Potentially damaging winds are forecast for Northern Ireland and there is also a wind warning in place for Wales.

Storm Chandra is the third major storm to hit the UK this month, following Ingrid and Goretti.

Traffic between England and Wales has been diverted over the M4 Prince of Wales Bridge, while National Rail issued a warning that "poor weather" could affect South Western Railway services until the end of Tuesday.

An amber warning for rain is in place for south Devon, much of Dorset, southern Somerset and south-east Cornwall until 09:00 GMT on Tuesday, where 30-50mm of rain could fall widely with up to 60-80mm over the higher ground of south Dartmoor.

Sections of several roads in Dorset, Somerset and east Devon have been closed due to flooding, with dozens of flood warnings in place across the south-west.

A yellow warning for wind covers Cornwall, south-west Wales and parts of northern Devon until Tuesday afternoon. Several flood alerts are also active across Wales, with Gwent Police saying that the A40 was flooded between Abergavenny and Raglan.

Devon County Council said there were blocked roads at several "key locations".

"As heavy rain continues through the night and into the morning, we are experiencing fallen trees and flooding across the network blocking many routes," it said.

Storm Chandra comes in the wake of Ingrid and Goretti - the latter described by the Met Office as one of the most impactful storms to hit Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly in the last 30 to 35 years.

Met Office chief forecaster Paul Gundersen said: "Initially, strong winds will impact the Isles of Scilly, western Cornwall and south-west Wales which are still vulnerable after Storm Goretti, gusts of 70 to 80mph are possible here.

"Heavy rain is an additional hazard as it falls on saturated ground in Dorset and southern parts of Devon, Somerset and Cornwall."

Further north, flood warnings are also in place for parts of Yorkshire.

Yellow warnings for rain and snow have been issued for the Pennines and south-west Scotland until early Tuesday evening, where up to 5cm of snow could fall widely and as much as 20cm could accumulate on higher ground.

This puts the highest parts of major routes like the A57 Snake Pass, A66, A68 and M62 at risk.

There is a further yellow warning for rain and snow across much of central Scotland throughout the day, as well as a yellow wind warning for the country's southwest.

Flood warnings have been issued for Aberbothrie and the River Isla at Coupar Angus in Scotland.

Several schools have been closed in Northern Ireland.

The Met Office said gusts of 60-70mph (97-113km/h) will affect eastern parts, with possible 75mph gusts in coastal locations, adding that "easterly winds of this strength are unusual and are likely to be impactful".