FURTHER stormy weather is due to hit town over the weekend after flood warnings and high winds disrupted services over the past month.

Today is expected to be extremely windy, with gale force south westerly winds. Wind speeds will reach up to 43 miles per hour in places by the early afternoon. Frequent blustery showers will occasionally turn heavy, with the chance of hail or thunder at sporadic times of day.

While Saturday is expected to be less windy, heavy rain will prevail throughout the day.

Through Sunday and into the start of next week the outlook so far is to be wet and windy, but the Met office are not predicting any major problems as a result.

A spokesman for the Met Office said: “While there are no flood warnings currently in place for the Swindon area, there will be a number further to the south and the situation may change.

“Sunday is likely to be the worst affected day, with very high winds likely in that area.”

Stormy weather during last month has been causing a number of problems in the town. Many parts of southern England have seen twice the amount of rainfall they would normally expect, and Swindon has been no exception.

The first storm arrived on December 5 and 6, followed by another on the 18th and 19th and another on 23th and 24th.

Gloomy conditions before Christmas stalled journeys for travellers rushing home for the festive period, with the vast majority of rail services being delayed or cancelled.

The severe weather, which saw winds reach up to 80 mph in places, forced Wiltshire Council contractors on to the roads to make them safe for commuters, and people were urged not to travel unless absolutely necessary.

In adverse weather in the days leading up to New Year’s Eve, a number of trees fell and this plus ice on the road led to crashes.

One of the oldest walnut trees in the country, in Lydiard Park, also succumbed to the storms, after its branches were torn from its trunk.

Flooding has remained in areas of the town following the recent downpours, and a subway path between Coate Water and Park South has now been completely submerged by water.

Steve Blanchard, of Eldene, said: “The water is around 12 feet deep, and there are no warning signs around it.

“If a car went off the road and went down the verge the occupants would all be drowned.”

A flood alert remained in place last night from the Environment Agency for the River Ray and Swinbourne, with the West Swindon area leading down to Water Eaton likely to be affected.