After a sun-soaked September, autumn has returned to normal service this week with no let-up expected in the heavy rain and high winds battering Britain.

Bad weather caused some disruption to rail lines and roads yesterday as trees were felled and a 61-year-old man was killed by masonry falling from a building, although police said it was too early to say whether the storms were responsible.

And the outlook for the rest of the week appears patchy at best, with more gusty winds and heavy downpours expected.

A spokesman for MeteoGroup said: "There was some heavy rain this morning in the south east of England and there will be a band of rain stretching from the south east to the north west and moving northwards today. There will be a few heavy bursts of rain but nothing to be too concerned about.

"The north east of Scotland will see a band of rain sitting across it throughout much of the day too, which will be heavy at times. It is a bit gusty in the same area with winds up to 60 miles per hour.

"For the rest of the UK it is a bit of a mixture - there will be a few showers around but in between there will be some sunny spells in parts of the country.

"It's staying unsettled over the next few days with western areas most likely to see heavy showers and thunderstorms. Temperatures are about average for this time of year though. More of what we would expect of October really."

Humberside Police have yet to release the identity of the man who died in Bridlington, East Yorkshire, at around 1pm yesterday.

Meanwhile, a fallen tree at Lambrigg, Cumbria, brought down the overhead power line on the West Coast Main Line. Rail services were affected throughout the day and around 2,000 homes in the Workington area lost power for an hour as a result.