Will the Exeter game go ahead

[lovedeanblue]

Exeter are bringing in Somerset CC's "blotter machine", completely with the cricket club's head groundsman in an effort to clear water off the pitch tomorrow morning. I wish them well in their efforts

[OhWell]

The problem is the machine could be blown away by the storm of the century, expected to hit the south-west tomorrow.

A deep low Atlantic pressure system miles of the UK coast will whip up 150mph winds and violent sea surges as it barrels into the country.

At its centre the intense storm will see pressure drop to just 944mb - seven millibars LOWER than the Great Storm of 1987.

Experts said the worst of the weather is due to set in tonight before a relentless onslaught of wind and rain over the weekend.

They warned communities to prepare for trees to be torn from the ground, roofs ripped from buildings and the flooding crisis to dramatically deteriorate.

Meteorological projections show winds of 12 on the Beaufort scale - Hurricane force - hitting the west coast.

[mothman]

The jet stream is bringing in the storm over the Atlantic at 150mph, but the winds will not get that high over land. The most will be gusts of 60-70 mph. I would think that the wind will in fact help to dry the surface out. Depends on how much rain they get down there.

[OhWell]

New flood alerts for the South West:

Large swathes of England and Wales are on flood alert today as yet another storm with winds of up to 70mph arrives to batter Britain.

The crisis-hit Somerset Levels where many residents have already been forced from their homes after weeks of heavy rain remain at the highest risk of continued flooding.

The Environment Agency also highlighted the coastline of Devon and Dorset as being at "significant risk" of new flooding as high tides and winds arrive.

The storm will move north-eastwards bringing with it winds of up to 70mph and heavy showers throughout today, weather forecasters MeteoGroup said.

The highest risk of flooding will be around lunchtime.