The weather forecast is rainy and breezy for many today, including those in London
Large swathes of the country should brace for fierce 70mph gales and up to 90mm of rain today, the Met Office says.
Flooding and travel chaos is likely as the remnants of Storm Benjamin, a named storm by Meteo France, sweep across the UK. Several weather warnings are in place for rain and wind, and largely concern the Southeast of England and the East of England.
Forecasters have urged those living in the areas subject to the rain warning to prepare an "emergency kit" of essentials in case their homes or businesses experience flooding. Isolated areas in the East of England, such as remote parts of Norfolk and Lincolnshire, could see up to 90mm of rain fall by 9pm tonight, the Met Office has warned.
The weather service's warning reads: "Storm Benjamin is expected to bring heavy rain to this area on Thursday. Confidence in the precise track of the storm remains lower than usual for this type of weather system, which leads to continued uncertainty over the location of highest rainfall totals.
"That said, totals are expected to widely reach 20-30 mm within the warning area, with some places seeing 30-50 mm. There is also a very low chance of a more developed system bringing very isolated rainfall totals of 60-90 mm."
Temperatures will fall in the coming days too, in part due to the high winds expected as a result of France's storm. The next period of weather will contrast with the balmy 17.4C recorded by the Met Office on Wednesday in Frittenden, Kent.
The Met Office's chief meteorologist, Rebekah Hicks, said last night: "It is not until Thursday morning that significantly strong north-westerly winds will first begin to affect parts of the west with gusts of 45 to 55 mph, locally 55mph around coasts expected.
"At the same time, northerly winds are expected to develop more widely across eastern areas, with gusts of 50-60 mph fairly widely and up to 70 mph near some coasts. Should Storm Benjamin be at the stronger end of expectations, there is a small chance of wind gusts very locally exceeding 70 mph for a time."
It will also be windy - albeit to a lesser degree - in the west with a stretch of coastline from Cornwall to north Wales subject to a separate weather warning. The Met Office coastal routes, sea fronts and coastal communities will be affected by the gusts, and these are likely to cause travel disruption.
The largest warning - for rain - straddles most of England and Wales, including York in the north, Cornwall in the south and Swansea in the west. The weather warning continues: "Spray and flooding on roads leading to difficult driving conditions and increased chance of accidents, making journey times longer."
Full list of places subject to rain warnings - of up to 90mm East Midlands Lincolnshire East of England Cambridgeshire Essex Norfolk Peterborough Suffolk Yorkshire & Humber East Riding of Yorkshire Kingston upon Hull North East Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire East Midlands Derby Derbyshire Leicester Leicestershire Lincolnshire Northamptonshire Nottingham Nottinghamshire Rutland Full list of places subject to rain warnings - of up to 50mm East of England Bedford Cambridgeshire Central Bedfordshire Essex Hertfordshire Luton Peterborough Southend-on-Sea Thurrock London & South East England Bracknell Forest Brighton and Hove Buckinghamshire East Sussex Greater London Hampshire Isle of Wight Kent Medway Milton Keynes Oxfordshire Portsmouth Reading Slough Southampton Surrey West Berkshire West Sussex Windsor and Maidenhead Wokingham North East England Darlington Hartlepool Middlesbrough Redcar and Cleveland Stockton-on-Tees South West England Bath and North East Somerset Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Bristol Cornwall Devon Dorset Gloucestershire North Somerset Plymouth Somerset South Gloucestershire Swindon Torbay Wiltshire Wales Blaenau Gwent Bridgend Caerphilly Cardiff Merthyr Tydfil Monmouthshire Neath Port Talbot Newport Rhondda Cynon Taf Swansea Torfaen Vale of Glamorgan West Midlands Herefordshire Staffordshire Warwickshire West Midlands Conurbation Worcestershire Yorkshire & Humber East Riding of Yorkshire North Lincolnshire North Yorkshire South Yorkshire West Yorkshire York Full list of places subject to wind warnings - of up to 70mph East Midlands Leicester Leicestershire Lincolnshire Northamptonshire Nottingham Nottinghamshire Rutland East of England Bedford Cambridgeshire Central Bedfordshire Essex Hertfordshire Luton Norfolk Peterborough Southend-on-Sea Suffolk Thurrock London & South East England Bracknell Forest Brighton and Hove Buckinghamshire East Sussex Greater London Hampshire Kent Medway Milton Keynes Oxfordshire Reading Slough Surrey West Berkshire West Sussex Windsor and Maidenhead Wokingham Yorkshire & Humber East Riding of Yorkshire Kingston upon Hull North East Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire North Yorkshire South Yorkshire York Full list of places subject to wind warnings - of up to 55mph South West England Cornwall Devon Isles of Scilly Somerset Wales Carmarthenshire Ceredigion Conwy Gwynedd Isle of Anglesey Pembrokeshire Swansea