The UK will see rain and strong winds this week as Europe is hit by the remnants of the weather system that brought record-breaking snow storms to New York.

The stormy conditions will be experienced by most of the country by Thursday and Friday, bringing heavy showers and blustery conditions.

Thousands of travellers in the US were stranded when sections of the north-east US were buried under more than 2ft of snow.

The US National Weather Service said 26.9in of snow fell in New York's Central Park - the most since records began in 1869.

The previous record was 26.4in in December 1947.

Jeremy Plester, a forecaster for PA WeatherCentre, said cold air behind the weather system that brought the heavy snowfalls in the US would merge with other systems over the Atlantic creating a classic winter storm.

But he said the UK is not expected to see snow.

He said: "We're going to have some strong winds in west-facing areas like Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and the West Country and everywhere will get a good soaking.

"It's not going to blow houses down and is pretty much a typical winter storm.

"It won't be particularly cold, but conditions will be changeable and unsettled.

"We could even see some sun in between the rain.''

In the US, workers scrambled to clear streets as travellers stranded at airports tried to get home.