Parts of the UK may have seen tornadoes on Sunday, the Met Office has said, as strong winds and rain batter the country.

Gusts of over 80mph have been recorded on Portland with reports of wind damage which may cause disruption to travel.

Yellow warnings for wind and rain are in place over large parts of the west and elsewhere, and more are likely.

Meteorologist Tom Morgan said the Met Office could not confirm any tornadoes but would not rule them out.

“We’ve got a deep Atlantic area of low pressure that’s bringing a very heavy band of rain and squalling winds across the whole of the country, but particularly in the south of England,” he said.

Dorset Echo: Weather warnings in UK. Picture: PAWeather warnings in UK. Picture: PA

“We’ve seen some very strong gusts of wind on the south coast… and a few reports of damage from the winds.

“It’s not out of the question that there will have been some localised, brief funnel clouds or tornadoes.

“In the last couple of days we have seen some reports and seen some photos of funnel clouds and water spouts, which are similar to tornadoes.”

Tornadoes occur when funnel clouds extend from the cloud base to ground, Mr Morgan said.

He added that wind speeds of 87mph were recorded at an exposed location on the Isle of Portland, and there were gusts of 60mph across Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire and Sussex.

“We can’t confirm that there have been any (tornadoes) but we have seen reports of wind damage,” Mr Morgan added.

“This kind of situation does lend itself to sometimes producing tornadoes so it’s something we can’t rule out and there is some evidence to suggest there have been some.”

South Western Railway apologised to customers after trees blocked part of the network and said there may be cancellations, delays and alterations to services.