Rain, sleet and 65mph winds set for Suffolk tonight

Forecasters have warned of strong winds of around 65mph that are expected to sweep into the county this evening, as a wet and windy night is expected to continue into the morning.

Today is likely to remain dry with a slight chance of showers and temperatures around 5C (41F) for most of the day.

Chris Bell, Weatherquest forecaster said: “Tonight around midnight we are going to see rain sweep in from the west, and there might be a little sleet, but for Ipswich and Suffolk we are not expecting anything to settle.

“In general it turns to quite heavy rain around midnight.”

Temperatures are set to plummet to around freezing at midnight, before warming up to around 5C (41F) again in the morning.

Mr Bell added: “Definitely the biggest concern is wind speeds.

“At the moment we are looking at wind gusts picking up around 4-5am and it’s going to be very windy through the morning and set to die down through the afternoon.

“In land I suspect we are looking at 50-60mph winds, and if you are in the coastal areas you could be looking at 65mph.”

The possibility of 70mph winds in north Norfolk were also on the cards.

Motorists are being warned to plan their journeys in the morning, and leave extra time for any weather-related incidents.

The threshold for the Orwell Bridge closure is around 60mph, prompting Highways England to warn earlier this week that closure could be possible – the third so far this winter.