People living on Britain’s west coast have been advised to take action after the Met Office issued a red alert for 100mph winds set to batter the country.

Forecasters said a storm front is on its way that will bring heavy rain, powerful winds, blizzards and snow across the UK today, but the red severe weather warning – the highest level possible – is a rare occurrence.

It means that there is a strong chance of power outages, fallen trees and significant damage to property across north Wales and north-west England.

The Met Office said these areas are likely to “bear the brunt” of the oncoming storm, and said: “Winds of this strength can cause widespread structural damage, bringing down trees and also leading to loss of power supplies.

“In addition, large waves are likely to affect some coasts. The public should take action to alter their travel arrangements during this spell of storm force winds.”

Dubbed “Wild Wednesday”, today’s storm comes as the worst in a series of low pressure systems that will see some parts of the UK experience a month's rainfall by the end of the week.

The Met Office has other amber and yellow warnings in place for the whole of the country, with snow expected to cause disruption in the north and heavy rain to add further misery in southern England.

Forecasters earlier said exposed parts of the Welsh coast could be hit with gusts of up to 100mph, and large waves are expected. Even away from the coast, they said winds across much of the country could reach 70mph.

Floods have been the main cause for concern in much of southern and south-western England in recent weeks, and relief efforts will not be helped by the expected substantial rainfall today.

Between 15 and 40mm (0.6-1.5 ins) of rain are forecast in the next couple of days across many southern and western areas, with as much as 70mm (2.75 ins) expected by Friday in the already sodden West Country, south Wales, western Scotland and Northern Ireland.

•Credit (except headline): The Independent.