Britain looks set to be battered by the remains of Hurricane Maria and debris from Hurricane Lee as the two storms speed across the North Atlantic, forecasters have warned.
Maria is currently moving in a northerly direction off the east coast of the USA, and is likely to pick up turbulent weather from Hurricane Lee.
At least 25 people have been killed by the deadly hurricane, and forecasters believe the two will merge to form a superstorm across the Atlantic.
This is likely to be picked up by the jet stream and swept towards the British Isles and northern Europe, with the potent cocktail predicted to reach an area close to the UK on Monday.
Western areas are likely to be hit by the worst of the storm, with some forecasts indicating winds could be gale force.
It means conditions are set to be changeable for the first half of next month, with an increased likelihood of powerful gusts, some even reaching gale force, as well as heavier rain across some parts.
Eleanor Bell, principal meteorologist of The Weather Channel, said: “There is increasing confidence we will have a very wet and very windy start to next week.
The remnants of Maria are expected to move across Britain around Monday, with forecast models now in better agreement. But we will still need to monitor future model runs for any changes.
If this plays out it will bring very heavy rain and very strong to gale force winds to Britain.
But the Met Office has said it is very early to predict what will happen.
Spokesman Oli Claydon told Mirror Online: As soon as they go into the cooler North Atlantic the energy dissipates, it will be very different by the time they get to the North Atlantic.
Chief Meteorologist Andy Page said the weather will be ‘typically autumnal’ in coming days.
At least 10 people were killed by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, while at least 15 died in the island of Dominica.