Flood teams are braced for severe weather, as the tail-end of Hurricane Gonzalo looks set to hit the region tonight.

The Environment Agency (EA) was checking coastal defences and staff were briefed yesterday, with the exact time the system will arrive on our shores still unclear.

Vanessa Winters, of the EA in the eastern region, said local flood forecasts were being checked on an “exceptionally” regular basis and were changing hour by hour.

“We’re trying to be as prepared as we can be,” she said. “We don’t want to cause too much alarm.

“We will have a better idea [of the likely impact] nearer the time.”

She added that it was too early to tell what response would be needed, and that the bulk of the system was likely to move in tomorrow.

The Met Office has warned that significant travel disruption and dangerous driving conditions are expected tomorrow.

A low level “yellow” weather warning covering much of the UK has been issued by the forecaster for Tuesday, when the worst of the storm will be felt following its predicted arrival tonight.

Strong gales of up to 60mph and heavy rain will sweep west to east for around 24 hours, particularly affecting Northern Ireland, Northern England, North Wales, Southern and Eastern Scotland.