North West to escape tropical storm?

The band of rain stems from a complex area of low pressure, expected to deepen over the Bay of Biscay later today, before pushing north towards the UK.

It is expected to arrive into southern areas on Wednesday morning, before spreading north through Wednesday afternoon and into Thursday before clearing during the day.

However, the Met Office forecast for the North West predicts a mostly cloudy day, with the odd sunny spell, temperatures reaching 14 degrees and not a drop of rain in sight.

Elsewhere across England there have been warnings of “heavy and thundery showers”, “strong and gusty winds”, “localised flooding” and travel disruption.

“This is a very complex development, and uncertainty in timings and areas most at risk is large,” said a Met Office spokesman. “As such this warning will be updated as confidence in developments increases.”

Check the latest weather warnings at metoffice.gov.uk.