The sun may still be shining but Britain is on storm alert with up to half a month's rain forecast for north west England on Wednesday.

Torrential downpours and coastal gales are set to bring an abrupt halt to the warm spring weather by Wednesday, with Chester and other parts of the north west first in the firing line.

Several low pressure systems lined up to move across the country will bring further heavy showers into the weekend, forecasters say.

Cumbria and parts of the North are braced for around an inch of rain - almost half a month's worth - over the next 48 hours and The Met Office say winds could hit gale-force in some regions with gusts of 50mph likely across exposed coasts.

Forecaster Alex Burkill said: "It is going to turn unsettled as the week goes on with showers pushing into Wales and parts of England from Tuesday night into Wednesday.

"These will spread eastwards and there could be some heavier bursts with dry spells in between.

"Rain will continue to move eastwards across all parts of the UK on Wednesday and although Thursday starts more settled another area of low pressure will come in from the west.

"We could see gales across parts of the north with gusts touching 50mph in exposed regions with heavy bursts of rain turning thundery locally."

And as the week goes on, temperatures will gradually start to get cooler, with thermometers set to dip to low single figures overnight in the north.

Forecaster Jo Farrow said: "After a quiet start, there will be rain about this week as our weather begins to feed in from the Atlantic once more.

"Through Tuesday night low pressure moves over northern Britain and there will be a lot of cloud and further outbreaks of rain."