Wet and windy weather forecast for polling day

LONDON: Voters seeking to cast their ballots this week will have to brave the elements, as polling day is forecast to be wet and windy across the country.

Gusts of up to 30mph will batter Britain on Thursday as the country heads to the polls for the first December General Election in almost 100 years. An area of low pressure will bring outbreaks of rain to all parts of the UK throughout the day - with particularly heavy downpours expected to hit the South and South West.

Snow could fall in mountainous areas of Scotland, while the rest of the country is likely to see temperatures of around 10C to 12C. Key battlegrounds in the Midlands will see wet weather from mid-morning, with heavier bursts later in the day. The bad weather — coupled with winter’s reduced daylight hours — could lead to a lower voter turnout than the 68.7 per cent achieved in 2017.

Older people are traditionally more likely to go out and vote, but there are fears the rotten weather could dissuade them. Such an event could have a particular effect on the Tories, who typically benefit the most from the grey vote.

Met Office forecaster Simon Partridge told the PA news agency: “(Thursday) starts off generally dry, with a fairly chilly start, so actually quite a nice start to the day away from the far West. But unfortunately the rain will push in from the West over the morning so it is going to be a wet and windy day.

“We’ve got an area of low pressure moving across the UK on Thursday which will bring outbreaks of rain to all parts through the day — locally heavy at times, particularly down towards the West and the South West, particularly in areas of higher ground. It will be fairly windy as well, so we could see winds around 20mph - some gusts a little bit stronger than that, up to 30mph or so.” He added: “It’s not going to be the nicest of days to be outside.”