Weather: High winds and gales to give way to sunshine for London marathon

The high winds and torrential rain that have battered much of Britain will give way to sunshine in time for the London Marathon, the Met Office said.

Saturday saw gusts of 60mph at Needles Old Battery on the Isle of Wight, and between 9am and 3pm Evershot in Dorset recorded 30mm of rain, the Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for most of the south of England and there were a series of flood alerts.

But on Sunday, temperatures in London will be at around 11C between 8-9am as the race begins and rise to highs of 17C during the day.

The Met Office does predict several showers throughout the day, but no more than 2-3mm of rainfall as they will be fleeting and scattered.

Gusts of wind between 30-35mph will be consistent locally throughout Sunday, and could affect runners competing in the marathon.

A Met Office spokesperson said: “It looks a lovely sunny morning to come, plenty of sunshine around but a bit of a south-westerly breeze and the cloud will tend to increase as the race goes on.

“Certainly for later finishes into the afternoon, there will be more cloud around the wind will have picked up a little bit, and there will be an increasing chance of a shower developing as well.”

The average temperature for London in October is 17.1C, and ranges from 12C to 17C north to south.

A yellow wind weather warning is also in place for the Shetland Islands for Sunday, with gusts of up to 70mph expected to cause disruption to travel, especially in coastal regions.

Other areas of the UK are also staying average for the time of year, for example Manchester will peak at around 14C but the north of the UK is likely to get more rainfall throughout the day.

Here's the forecast:

Today

Heavy rain and severe gales over the Northern Isles clearing later this morning. Sunny spells for most parts, and many eastern parts starting dry, but showers already in the west moving east, some heavy with hail and thunder.

Tonight

Further showers in the south and west, and remaining windy in the north. Else, becoming dry with clear spells developing.

Monday

Another day of sunshine and showers, heaviest and most frequent in the north and west. Wet and windy weather arriving in the south-west during the evening.

Outlook for Tuesday to Thursday

Rain, heavy at times, with coastal gales affecting England and Wales on Tuesday, drier elsewhere with isolated showers. Becoming warmer and more settled away from the far northwest from Wednesday.