SEVERE weather conditions could affect the Christmas getaway after heavy rainfall was predicted for the county.

Travel plans could be disrupted after the Met Office issued a yellow weather warning of strong winds and heavy rain for the South west from early afternoon today, Monday, through to the early hours of Christmas Eve.

Current forecasts suggest that winds will gust in excess of 70mph across the region for a sustained period of time.

Flood warnings have also been issued for Gloucestershire.

Network Rail have indicated that they will be imposing a  speed restriction on many of the routes over which First Great Western operate.

First Great Western's High Speed Services are expected to be severely affected by the restriction along with other branch line and main line services. 

Journey times on all routes will be significantly extended and First Great Western are urging people where possible to catch an earlier train in order to avoid the disruption.

According to First Great Western customers holding tickets for departures after 12pm today, Monday, and those dated for travel on Christmas Eve may use their ticket to travel on an earlier service.