Batten down the hatches, that is the warning from the Met Office as wild weather is forecast for Saturday and Monday.

The first yellow warning of wind and rain is valid until 10pm on Saturday as a spell of persistent rain, heavy at times, accompanied by windy conditions hist Somerset in the early hours of Saturday onwards into Saturday late afternoon or evening.

20-30 mm of rain is expected quite widely across the warning area with 50-70 mm on south-facing slopes.

Higher ground in southern parts of Devon and Somerset are likely to see the highest totals with locally in excess of 80 mm possible over parts of Dartmoor.

Southerly gales or severe gales are expected with gusts of 40-50 mph inland and locally 65 mph over higher ground and south-facing coasts.

As this rain will be falling on near-saturated ground, please be aware of the risk of localised flooding and perhaps some disruption to travel.

The wild weather is due to an active frontal zone moving slowly eastwards with relatively warm, moist air being drawn up from the southwest on the strong southerly flow to generate some heavy rain over south-facing coasts and hills in particular. There may also be short periods of locally quite intense rainfall embedded within this relatively broad rainfall area.

Note that the highest rainfall accumulations are expected over higher ground in southern parts of Devon and Somerset, the greatest likelihood of seeing medium impacts therefore over this part of the warning area with Dartmoor likely to see the highest accumulations.