LIVE storm updates as strong winds and rain bring chaos to roads with weather warnings issued

The UK is being battered by strong winds and heavy rainfall today. Brits have been issued with a number of weather warnings amid the chaos after Storm Kathleen, that have seen mammoth 65mph winds and torrential downpours in some areas.

More than 100 people were evacuated from a holiday park in West Sussex last night, with more 100 roads currently closed across the country, according to National Highways. Forecasters have warned that heavy rain and strong winds will continue to batter parts of southern England, western Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland over the next few days.

Large swathes of the country are already on high alert - with 95 flood warnings and 209 flood alerts issued by the Environment Agency. Across the North West, the Met Office issued a yellow weather force for wind along the coast, which is in place until 3pm today (April 9).

READ MORE Greater Manchester's weather as Met Office and flood warnings hit North West

Locally, there is congestion on the M61 after a tree fell down across the carriageway leading on to the A666 near Bolton. And, on the Metrolink tram line, a tree blocking the track halted services between Bury and Whitefield this afternoon.

Greater Manchester looks set to avoid the worst of the turbulent weather for the rest of today, with the area away from the Met Office weather warning and with no flood alerts as of 8.30am today. But forecasters are still expecting the region to be hit by heavy downpours and strong winds later this morning and into the afternoon.

This is a live blog. Follow below for updates.

Flooding on roads near Chester

A fallen tree this morning on the tracks between Chester and Warrington Bank Quay caused the line to be blocked.

The latest weather map issued by