BATTEN down the hatches – storms are set to batter Hampshire this weekend.

It was brollies and winter coats at the ready yesterday as the county had a month’s worth of rainfall in just 24 hours.

But the worst could be yet to come on Saturday night and Sunday morning, with gale force winds and heavy rain set to cause havoc across the county.

The treacherous weather yesterday saw winds of up to 50mph, with 25mm of rain falling in just hours.

Strong winds brought down scaffolding and seriously damaged at least four cars in Portsmouth.

Police said no one was injured when the structure fell at the Royal Beach Hotel on Southsea seafront.

The scaffolding was up to the fifth floor so the hotel could be painted.

A severe weather warning was issued for the county, where motorists faced poor driving conditions and surface flooding.

A tree blocked a road in Kings Worthy, while Third Avenue, in Millbrook, Southampton, was closed in both directions due to flooding.

Hampshire police warned drivers to take care because of hazardous conditions as rain lashed main roads in the county.

The Red Cross also issued some flood advice, urging people to prepare an emergency kit with water and a first aid pack in case they are caught out by the heavy downpours.

Meanwhile, hovercraft services to the Isle of Wight were suspended due to bad weather conditions, and ferry passengers faced delays.

Last night, Met Office forecaster Helen Chivers said that the bad weather would continue into today and tomorrow, with a mixture of sun and showers.

But into the weekend more storms are expected.

She said: “Saturday itself may not be too bad, but it looks like rain overnight into Sunday has the potential to be very windy and very wet.”

Despite the deluge of rain, though, and the warning of more to come, we are still officially in drought.

Water chiefs and the Environment Agency warned that the wet weather is not going to be enough to replenish near-empty reservoirs and is not enough to head off restrictions this summer.

A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: “It’s going to take more than a week or two of rain to undo the effects of nearly two years of below average rainfall.”