After Storm Brendan battered the UK on Tuesday – blowing a roof off a block of flats in Slough and frightening passengers on a bumpy flight to Belfast – the UK will have a short reprieve before heavy rain and strong winds are set to hit again.

Most of the UK will have drier and brighter conditions throughout Wednesday, but the evening will turn windy and rainy overnight in the far north.

Met Office forecaster Bonnie Diamond said: "The settled sunny spell today isn't going to last, as winds will increase in strength and gales could be severe at times as we head into Thursday."

The unsettled weather will spread across Northern Ireland and Scotland from dawn on Thursday, before hitting England and Wales.

Forecasters warn of heavy rain in the west of England with coastal gales of up to 60mph in Devon, Cornwall and Plymouth, and winds of up to 45mph inland. Winds are expected to ease by Thursday evening, said Ms Diamond

Weather photographer of the year, 2019 Show all 24 1 /24 Weather photographer of the year, 2019 Weather photographer of the year, 2019 Above My Expectations Temperature Inversion/cloud inversion in Snowdonia at dawn. WINNER Gareth Mon Jones Weather photographer of the year, 2019 The Power of Lightning 1st RUNNER-UP: A very large and impressive bolt striking the sea facing the characteristic village of Riomaggiore, in the Cinque Terre UNESCO heritage site, Liguria, Italy Elena Salvai Weather photographer of the year, 2019 Snow Rollers in Wiltshire 2nd RUNNER-UP: Conditions have to be just right for snow rollers to occur: a smooth, un-vegetated hillside, such as in this case near Marlborough, enhances the chance of them being formed. A layer of thin snow, settled atop existing ice and not sticking to it, combined with specific temperature, moisture level and wind speed, are fundamental to the creation of these natural oddities Brian Bayliss Weather photographer of the year, 2019 Spectacular lightning show over Trial Bay WINNER. 17 and under: Stunning bolt of lighting and spectacular cloud formation over Trail Bay National park Hugo Begg Weather photographer of the year, 2019 Motorcycle caught in the snow RUNNER-UP. 17 and under Ali Bagheri Weather photographer of the year, 2019 White misty rainbow over the winter garden This year I witnessed an amazing weather phenomenon - a white (or foggy) rainbow. I have already seen such a miracle in Karelia, but never in winter. At night the garden was shrouded in fog. All the apple trees were covered with lush frost. As the sun rose, a giant arc of light flashed over the garden. It lasted a few hours, letting me capture it in all its glory. Elena Belozorova Weather photographer of the year, 2019 Trophies Southwold in the snow Lee Acaster Weather photographer of the year, 2019 The Supercell Huge supercell with frequent cloud-to-ground lightning is seen moving over farmland of southwestern Oklahoma Dennis Oswald Weather photographer of the year, 2019 The stranded ship Peng-Gang Fang Weather photographer of the year, 2019 Tempest #1 Waves at Newhaven beach, England, during Storm Erik Dan Portch Weather photographer of the year, 2019 Morning shadows, Scotney Castle December dawn mist Chris Brown Weather photographer of the year, 2019 Sampjer Lucijan Spanic Weather photographer of the year, 2019 Rain in the City This was taken in the early morning in Memphis and it was still dark and pouring down with rain Christine Holt Weather photographer of the year, 2019 Mountain cloud Lenticular cloud formation in the Alps Iain Afshar Weather photographer of the year, 2019 In slow dance Night, frost, gusts of wind, standing to the waist in the snow ... and real magic happens in the sky. This aurora was more dynamic than ever Andrei Baskevich Weather photographer of the year, 2019 Flood Floods in Gorgan, northern Iran, occur during New Year's Eve and New Year, closing many roads and flooding farms and roads. I took this photo by drone Mohammad Hossein Moheimany Weather photographer of the year, 2019 Fichtelberg Wintertime on the Fichtelberg mountain in Germany. The building in the background is an old weather station. Christoph Schaarschmidt Weather photographer of the year, 2019 Exploding Wave, Tynemouth The image I entered is one I’ve been trying to capture for a long time, waves crashing against the lighthouse at sunrise. The reason this has taken so long is so many aspects are completely reliant on the weather, for example the tide time, then the size of the swell that produces the giant waves. All these factors have to coincide with the time the sunrise on the horizon and even the time of year as the sun moves so much throughout the year. It was extremely pleasing to be shortlisted among many fantastic images Owen Humphreys Weather photographer of the year, 2019 Comin' ta Getcha Chasers race away from a monster supercell in New Mexico Stu Short Weather photographer of the year, 2019 Cinnamon roll cloud A fierce windy evening at Jökulsárlón, Iceland, a beautiful cloud above the ice lagoon. Cirrocumulus standing lenticular cloud. Its unique shape looks like a UFO floating above the ice Bingyin Sun Weather photographer of the year, 2019 Black Rock Steve Carr Weather photographer of the year, 2019 Barrier Rainstorm "Rain storm over the Thames Barrier that spans the River Thames just east of Greenwich in London, England. The image was taken on the north bank of the River Thames on a warm and sultry afternoon in July 2014. It was one of those typical English summer days when the weather could not really make up its mind what to do Brian Michael Denton Weather photographer of the year, 2019 Apocalyptic A panoramic view of one of the largest haboobs on record in the state of Arizona. On July 9, 2018, this dust storm traveled nearly 200 miles and reached almost a mile high Kevin Juberg Weather photographer of the year, 2019 Air The 'Beast from the East' snow storm over Tunbridge Wells taken from a drone Steve Baker

The Environment Agency has dozens of red flood warnings in place throughout the south coast and north-eastern parts of England, as well as some parts of the Midlands.

People living in or visiting the south coast have been warned to take extra care while walking along the coast as large waves pose serious danger.

EA flood duty manager Sarah Cook said: "Strong winds and high tides could lead to large waves and localised flooding along parts of the south coast of England over the coming days."

Heavy showers and sunny spells are predicted on Friday, with the north and west of the UK experiencing the brunt of the showers. Very strong winds are expected in the far north of Scotland.

"But the weekend is looking very different – much more settled with fine and dry weather, but it will get quite a bit colder," said Ms Diamond.

A high pressure system moving in over the weekend will see temperatures overnight dropping to freezing or below freezing, with highs of around 8C – average for this time of year.

Storm Brendan wreaked havoc as it disrupted ferries and trains in Scotland and the Irish sea and speed restrictions were imposed on railways throughout the UK. Seven flights were diverted from Gatwick Airport due to gales.

In Slough, Berkshire, winds of up to 50mph in the area blew a roof clean off a building and on to a high street on Tuesday evening. No one was injured in the incident.