A “weather bomb” has been causing carnage across the country – with wintry gales due to hit London tonight and tomorrow (Thursday).

Winds of up to 80 miles per hour have been battering areas across North Wales, Scotland, Northern England and Northern Ireland.

London will be affected from tomorrow, when the Met Office has issued a yellow warning for wind to cover the whole of the UK.

The rapid cyclogenesis – known colloquially as a “weather bomb” – is a deep low pressure system moving slowly eastwards between Scotland and Iceland.

More southerly areas of the country are likely to be hit by a second storm due to roll in from the Atlantic Ocean on Friday.

Forecaster Kirk Waite said some parts will have “a brief respite” for a time on Thursday, before the second weather system develops in the south-west of the country.

“The weather warning from 9pm on Tuesday to 6am on Thursday covers the risk of gusts between 60 and 70mph, and 70-80mph in exposed areas,” he said.

Temperatures over the next few days are actually not much colder than usual for this time of year, according to Meteogroup forecaster George Goodfellow – but the brisk winds will bring a distinctive chill to the air.

“We are looking at highs of up to 12 degrees in some western areas today, and even 10 degrees in the South East tomorrow, but the strong winds will make it feel fairly nasty,” he said.

Send your pics of weather chaos to laura.burnip@archant.co.uk or tweet us @ilfordrecorder.