Wet and windy weather is expected over the coming days before temperatures drop in the lead-up to Christmas.

The Met Office has forecast soggy weather for much of the country from Friday, with the worst of the rain concentrated in the south west, where flooding is expected.

Sunny spells and light showers in northern and western areas of the UK on Thursday will be displaced by heavier showers moving in from the west on Friday, forecasters have said.

A yellow weather warning for rain is in place for Cornwall, Devon and South Wales, where flooding is likely and disruption to transport services and power supplies is expected, from midnight on Friday until 3am on Saturday.

Met Office forecaster Alex Deakin said low pressure causing blizzards in the US is likely to reach the UK as “further rain” with “strong signals it will grow colder” next week.

He said: “The main feature this weekend will be this area of low pressure, (and) showers will spiral around that.”

Around 20 to 30mm of rain is expected in western regions, with up to 60mm in hilly areas.

Temperatures are set to drop from a countrywide average of around 10C this weekend to single figures – though forecasters have said this projection is “very uncertain” and subject to change by then.