Kent is facing wet and windy weather for much of the next 10 days, says the Met Office, which says the recent blustery weather shows few signs of disappearing.

Despite blue skies and sunshine for many parts of the county today, the settled weather is unlikely to last suggest forecasters.

The county is in for a traditionally autumnal mix of strong winds and frequent rain according to the long range forecast released today for the middle of autumn.

On Friday Kent was battered by gales of close to 60mph after America's Hurricane Ian disrupted the pattern of the jet stream over the UK.

While this week and next the country will see plenty of showers move in, which will sometimes be heavy, accompanied by some very blustery winds at times.

On Friday further showers are expected to sink south during the day which could bring spells of very heavy rain for short periods, say Met Office predictions.

Forecaster Alex Deakin said: "The pressure pattern for the next few days will be dominated by low pressure to the north and high pressure to the south.

"Plenty of isobars are on the charts, meaning it’s going to stay pretty blustery. At times we’ll see these weather fronts drifting through, bringing bands of showery rain across the country.

"Up until Saturday, we’re going to see a mixture of sunshine and showers with strong, blustery westerly winds."

Unsettled weather is expected to be the theme for much of next week too with low pressure systems in the Atlantic driving in further rain and wind.

Alex added: "What we look to be left with through next week is a similar pattern to what we’ve got now, with low pressure systems mostly to the north and areas of high pressure to the south and a reasonably active jet stream pushing everything along."

A mild winter could be on the cards for the UK this year, it has been suggested, after studies were conducted by the meteorological department at the University of Reading.

The model, which forecasts that temperatures between November and February could stay above average, were published in its latest weather and climate blog. A milder winter, it said, could also save households and businesses huge sums of money as people grapple with the costs of higher energy bills over the coming months.