Damaging winds will hit northern parts of the UK on Monday as the remnants of Hurricane Katia reach British shores, forecasters said yesterday.

Scotland, Northern Ireland and Cumbria could see trees brought down as gusts of up to 80 mph sweep across the region.

The high winds will be accompanied by heavy rain and the Environment Agency said flood warnings may be issued in coastal areas. A flood alert - which warns that flooding is possible – remains in place at Derwent Water, Cumbria, because water levels at the lake remain high.

Paul Mott, forecaster for Meteogroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: “The strongest gusts are going to be over Scotland, Northern Ireland and Cumbria.

“There will be gusts up to 60 or 70 mph, locally up to 80 mph over west and north west Scotland. It is possible that it will be enough to bring down trees in Scotland and Northern Ireland, especially as they are still in full leaf so they are more likely to come down.”

The UK sees a storm of this strength around once per year, and the remnants of a hurricane reach Britain once every few years, he said.

Mott added: “It is unusually early to be getting a storm of this strength, you would normally expect it later in the autumn.”

The high winds and rain will start to ease off in the first half of this week.

“It will be over pretty quickly,” Mr Mott said. “The worst of the wind will be through Monday afternoon and evening, and then the winds should start to ease through Monday night. Tuesday and Wednesday will still be windy for parts of the UK, but nowhere nearly as windy as Monday.”

The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings for tomorrow, warning people in Northern Ireland, central and south west Scotland and the Highlands to be prepared.