Cumbria is set for a wet and windy weekend according to Met Office forecasters.

It has issued a number of weather warnings for rain.

The first yellow warning came into force at 9am yesterday and covers most of Cumbria. It is expected to last until 11.59pm this evening.

Periods of heavy rain may lead to flooding and disruption to transport, although it is believe the rain may clear for many areas for some time today.

Continuing periods of heavy rain tomorrow may lead to further flooding and disruption to transport.

This comes as a further yellow warning for rain has been issued from midnight tonight and lasting last until 9pm on Saturday evening.

A third warning is expected to come into force at 9am on Sunday lasting until 11.59pm.

John Griffiths, operational meteorologist for the Met Office, is predicting a wet weekend for Cumbria.

He explained: “It covers quite a large area. Into Friday morning it should be dry with light winds for much of the day.

“There is a bit of a respite before the next bit of rain that comes up through Friday night.

“It will be increasingly windy through Friday night into Saturday and there is a risk of gales and heavy rain.

“It does look as though it might clear a little on Saturday into the afternoon. It’s still windy but with one or two showers into the afternoon and evening.

“Then into Saturday night there is a brief drier spell before then another batch of wind and rain coming in from the west. That could be quite heavy – and that’s why we have yellow weather warnings.”

Strong winds are likely with potential for leaf fall to exacerbate flooding in places.

The heaviest rainfall is expected to be across the hills and mountains of Cumbria and northwest Wales, where 100mm to 150mm of rainfall is possible by the end of today.

Mr Griffiths continued: “For Saturday’s warning we currently have 20 to 30mm of rain, possibly as much as 40 to 60mm across the high ground. It does say that some higher areas might get up to 80 to 100mm of rain, so somewhere like Shap summit might get something like 100mm.”

No amounts of rain have been mentioned for Sunday but there is potential for further significant heavy rainfall, especially with this coming off the back of the wet Saturday and the wet Thursday.

“It will lead to some localised flooding impacts and some travel disruption,” added Mr Griffiths.

“It will be particularly windy over the weekend with a risk of gales.

“For Saturday there is some uncertainty about the strength but at the moment we are looking at winds gusting at about 30 to 40mph. Over the hills and around the cost it could be 45 to 50mph.

“Even an isolated 60mph.”

Yesterday rail users experienced delays due to the weather.

Passengers travelling through Lancashire and Cumbria were warned of slower-than-usual journeys and travel disruption with heavy rain forecast for the day.

To keep passengers and railway staff safe, speed restrictions for trains were in place on West Coast main line services running through Preston and also on the Settle to Carlisle line in Cumbria.