Suffolk is set to escape the worst of the thundery showers and storms hitting parts of the UK today.

Forecasters say there will not be a repeat this week of the St Jude’s storms which lashed the county with wind speeds of 76mph in October last year.

It comes after the Met Office issued severe weather warnings for rain and wind covering most of the western side of the country today.

Exposed areas in Wales, north-west England, eastern parts of Northern Ireland and western and northern parts of Scotland could see gusts of up to 70mph.

But Christ Bell, forecaster at East Anglia based Weatherquest, said gusts along the Suffolk coast are not expected to exceed 40mph today.

He said: “It is going to be wet and windy but nothing terribly out of the ordinary for autumn.

“It is going to be dry for a time tonight with potential heavy showers tomorrow morning before brightening up in the afternoon.

“On Wednesday, it is going to be wet and windy again, and wind speeds could be in excess of 40mph.

“So it is going to be more unsettled and more like autumn this week, but we are going to escape the worst (of the bad weather).”

He said around 5-7mm of rain is expected today.