Bradford Mela cancelled as rain sweeps Yorkshire... and gales to come

Severe weather warnings have been issued for Wales, the South West, the Midlands, London and the South East and eastern parts of the country.

The unseasonable weather has already seen a number of trees brought down, including one which crushed a car near Tavistock, Devon, on Thursday afternoon.

Crews from Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service used cutting gear to remove the roof of the vehicle and release a woman who was taken to hospital.

In Bradford, persistent rain forced the council to cancel its annual Mela in the city’s Peel Park, for “safety reasons”.

A council statement said: “Council officers deemed the huge infrastructure of the Mela, which consists of stages, marquees, fairground rides and temporary buildings could be compromised by the soft and shifting ground in Peel Park.

“Inspections revealed pools of standing water in key areas, including the car park.

“There were also concerns that attempts to use the park would severely damage the ground, including community football pitches, and would take several seasons of work to repair.”

Rain affected many areas on Thursday, with the first day of the third Test between England and the West Indies at Edgbaston washed out.

A spokesman for the Met Office said the South Coast would be battered by severe gales while temperatures would be cool for the time of year, with the maximum expected to be 16C (61F).

Rain will also fall on much of the country with Wales due to get the biggest drenching.

Aisling Creevey, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: “The heaviest rain will be across Wales, the Midlands and western and northern England.

“The South West could see anywhere between 15mm and 25mm of rain. What we are seeing is tight pressure gradients across the UK, meaning it is really windy. Winds could reach up to 65mph across exposed coastal areas of Wales and south-west and southern England.

“Across northern England, where the low pressure is moving over, winds are a bit more slack, and they are moderate across southern and central Scotland. But we could see winds of up to 50mph across northern-most Scotland, and about 40mph to 45mph across the Northern Isles.”