Hold on to your hats - the winds which are battering Kirklees this morning are going to get stronger.

Already the gales, sweeping in from the south west, have seen gusts of 50mph across Huddersfield, and by this afternoon they could have increased to 70mph.

Examiner weatherman Paul Stevens warned that some structural damage is possible.

“There is the potential for smaller trees to be brought down, or lorries or vans to be blown over.

“The gusts could reach 70mph around Emley which is unusual.”

The storms are arriving in the UK after wreaking havoc in America over the last few days.

By late morning they will bring heavy rain, although Mr Stevens said this should have cleared by tonight.

Shoppers with umbrellas in the rain in Huddersfield town centre.

There will be more strong winds and rain tomorrow, before a drier spell on Thursday, but by Friday another storm will sweep in, bringing heavy rain and raising the fear of flooding.

In many parts of the region the ground is still saturated, and with people still counting the cost of the Boxing Day floods, particularly in parts of Calderdale, there are fears of more damage.

Mr Stevens said: “It’s looking very turbulent for the next seven to 10 days with frequent storms sweeping in off the Atlantic.

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“At the moment Cumbria and west Lancashire are seeing the most rain, and there is a real danger of river flooding in that part of the world in the next 10 days.

READ MORE: Huddersfield basks in balmy temperatures - but US storms are set to batter the UK

“There will be severe gales with storm force gusts across Kirklees and Calderdale and rainfall will be well above average, especially in the north west of Calderdale.

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“We could see in the order of 80 to 120mm of rain across the next 10 days which could produce some local river flooding.

“At this stage the rivers in our region should just about be able to handle the rainfall, but as saturation levels increase again we will have to watch carefully.”

And there is little respite going further forward, with Mr Stevens predicting colder weather in early February, with the possibility of sleet and snow.