Weather warning reissued for Portsmouth area as Storm Erik winds batter the city

It comes as the Met Office has issued a wind weather warning for the Portsmouth area until 8pm on Friday.

Storm Erik brought strong winds to parts of the country today, including Portsmouth and surrounding area, and will be followed by rain and more unsettled weather, according to the Met Office.

The Met Office says that winds will be strong enough to cause some travel disruption. 

Meteorologist Nicola Maxey said: ‘On Friday we've got a named storm passing through.

‘We're looking at winds of 50 to 60mph in Northern Ireland and the west of Scotland.

‘But Erik could bring the possibility of 70mph gusts along more exposed coasts.

‘Even away from the strongest gusts we could still have gale-force winds.’

Wet weather will follow as rain moves in across the UK, and some of it could be heavy at times.

The Met Office has issued two weather warnings for Friday for strong winds across Northern Ireland and western Scotland until the evening, and for heavy rain in Scotland until Saturday afternoon.

Saturday will see a mix of sunny spells and blustery showers, with the most persistent rain in the north of the country and the possible risk of hail and thunder in the west.

There will be frost and the chance of some snow in the north of the country towards the end of the weekend when falling rain meets cold air.

Forecasting Sunday's weather, Ms Maxey said: ‘There is the chance of patchy rain and this could be heavy in places.

‘Because of the cold air, this could fall as snow on higher ground in Scotland and England on Sunday.

‘We're expecting a widespread frost on Sunday night and into Monday, and the unsettled weather will continue into the start of next week.’

Storm Erik was named by Irish forecaster Met Eireann on Thursday.