#strong-winds

#strong-winds

It has been a cold start to the year across much of Europe, particularly in central regions, where temperatures dropped to double-digit negatives. Heavy snowfall hit parts of eastern and central Europe on New Year's Eve, notably in Poland and Ukraine, with similar conditions across the Alps on the first few days of the year. The cold is likely to continue this week as an Arctic air mass sinks south across Europe, pulling temperatures well below the seasonal average outside south-east Europe.

Eastern Santa Clara Hills, Mountains Of San Benito County And Interior Monterey County Including Pinnacles National Park and Northern Salinas Valley/Hollister Valley and Carmel Valley are included in a weather alert for showers by the National Weather Service on Wednesday at 7:45 a.m. The alert is in effect until 8:30 a.m. Residents may experience wind gusts of up to 50 mph. At 7:45 a.m., Doppler radar tracked a shower 9 miles southwest of Ridgemark, or 11 miles east of Salinas, moving northeast at 40 mph, the NWS San Francisco CA said.

Heavy rain will spread in across southern England late on Wednesday, spreading north-east and likely to persist right through until late Thursday. The Met Office yellow warning for rain covers much of southern and eastern England from midnight on Wednesday night into Thursday, and through until 21:00 BST. Rainfall totals by early Thursday morning could be widely 20-30mm (around 1in), and for some places 30-50mm (up to 2in).

Low pressure moving across the south of the UK on Thursday will bring both a spell of heavy rain and areas of strong winds. The rain is expected to arrive from the southwest during Wednesday evening, before spreading northeast to many parts of England and Wales during Thursday, leading to difficult driving conditions and the risk of flooding in a few places. At the same time, winds are expected to pick up along south coastal areas in particular.

The high temperatures and fine, ­sunny days of summer have been replaced with heavy showers, blustery winds and cooler daytime temperatures. As children head back to school, there are often hopes of an Indian summer, an unseasonal return of good weather many people in Ireland call the "back-to-school weather". However, the forecast for the days and weeks ahead gives little hope for a return to summery conditions.