CUMBRIA Police are urging communities to 'be prepared' for bad weather over the coming days.

They say heavy rain and high winds could cause disruption to roads and potentially cause localised flooding across the county, following a weather forecast from the Met Office.

"Over the last week the county’s roads have been affected by fallen trees and standing water, the extent on some roads has resulted in them being closed due to the risk to motorists," said a police spokeswoman.

"The Met office have advised that more heavy rain is due to hit Cumbria again on Wednesday followed by high winds on Friday combined with a very high tide, therefore police want to take this opportunity advise people to take care and be prepared."

Anybody who needs to travel on the roads is asked to slow down, drive with care and drive to the road and weather conditions rather than the speed limit.

There are a number of flood alerts across the county and the police are urging people, especially those living in an area prone to flooding, to keep up to date with flood alerts which will be available from Floodline on 0845 988 1188.

Anybody who sees a road starting to flood is asked to contact the Highways Agency on 0845 609 6609.