The UK is bracing itself for the most widespread storm the country has seen in seven years.

Storm Ciara is expected to a batter all corners of the country and in-land cities and towns too this weekend.

Sunday is set to bring wind gusts of 50mph to 60mph, and torrential rain, across north London, Hertfordshire, and Essex.

An amber weather warning is in place across the south east of England, which includes our region, for wind with the Met Office warning disruption to travel on Sunday is likely.

The forecast for tomorrow is very windy with widespread gales, these perhaps becoming locally severe. The rain will become persistent and heavy at times, before being replaced by blustery showers in the evening. Maximum temperature 13 degrees celcius.

Train operators have already warned passengers to only travel if necessary.

Thameslink and Great Northern are advising rail passengers not to travel on two of their key routes - between Peterborough and London, and Bedford and London. 

As a safety precaution, and to reduce the chance of the overhead lines being damaged, Network Rail is set to impose a speed restriction of 50mph across the network on Sunday.

Thameslink and Great Northern will have to significantly reduce its service, and trains that do run will take longer due to the speed restrictions in force.

Strong winds have the potential to damage overhead electric wires and tracks due to debris or trees falling onto the railway.

Disruption could continue into Monday morning as repair work may be hampered by the conditions.

Forecasters have warned there could be delays and cancellations to air, ferry and train services, damage to buildings and a chance of power cuts caused by wild weather conditions.

Drivers have also been urged to take extra care out on the roads.

Met Office chief meteorologist Frank Saunders said: "Storm Ciara will bring damaging winds and heavy rain across the UK this weekend and we have issued a range of severe weather warnings giving people time to prepare for potential impacts of the storm.

"Winds will increase through Saturday across Northern Ireland, Scotland, northern England and Wales, before turning very windy across the rest of UK through the early hours of Sunday morning.

"Gusts of 50-60mph are expected quite widely across inland areas, with even stronger gusts of 80mph or higher along coastal areas, especially in south-east England and northern Scotland."