DORSET is today bracing itself for the second storm to hit the county in less than 48 hours.

Strong winds and heavy rain are expected this afternoon to add to the gloom caused by a new Meteorological Office long range forecast that this summer could be wetter than usual.

The first storm yesterday brought winds gusting to 60mph and forced Condor Ferries to cancel its afternoon sailings from Poole to St Malo and to the Channel Islands.

Dorset Police said high winds had caused widespread damage, including a tree which blew down in Alexandra Road, Weymouth, blocking Daniel Stembridge's car in his driveway.

He said: "The tree came down right along the pavement, but luckily the only damage was to my gatepost, which annoyingly I had only just had repaired.I also couldn't get my car out of the driveway."

Other problems elsewhere included a tree which came down on the Bere Regis to Wareham road, partially blocking the road near Birchwood Caravan Park and a large branch which came down partially blocking the road near the Wise Man pub at West Stafford.

A police spokesman said today: "The high winds expected soon mean that we are warning all drivers of high- sided vehicles to take extra care in the treacherous conditions, especially on the A35 at Askers and along the Weymouth to Bridport coast road which are particularly dangerous.

"We would also ask drivers to slow down in the conditions because of the amount of debris on roads.Surface water flooding will also be a problem later today."

Weymouth has already had nearly 20 per cent more rain than it usually gets for the whole of May and there is still nearly a week to go to the end of the month.

The storms are expected to swell rainfall figures, which will be boosted even further by more poor weather likely to arrive next week.

But defiant tourism leaders said every cloud had a silver lining and they hoped that long range predictions for a wetter than usual summer were unlikely to be that bad for the resort of Weymouth.

Weathermen forecast gale-force winds today, with gusts reaching 60mph and more heavy rain expected this afternoon.

The outlook continues unsettled and next week is expected to produce continued spells of heavy rain and more general showers.

Next weekend, however, may be warmer and drier.