The UK was lashed by torrential rain and gale-force winds today as the first big storm of the autumn caused widespread chaos.

Large swaths of Britain were deluged, with heavy and persistent rain causing some localised flooding. Severe weather and flood warnings were in place in South West England and Wales, with the heavy rain expected to drift north as the day progressed.

Several roads were under water in Gloucestershire, and a road in Gwent was closed following a landslide. The AA reported a higher than normal number of breakdowns as cars ran into trouble after driving through floodwater.

In Devon, one of the areas worst hit by the storms, a motorist had to be rescued by firefighters after a tree branch fell on his car.

Today’s heavy rain followed persistent rainfall in many parts of the UK last night. Some parts of South Wales were expected to receive more than two inches of rain by the end of today.

Julian Mayes, senior forecaster for MeteoGroup UK, said: “What we’ve got is a band of heavy rain moving up the west of Britain, as expected. The rain has been very heavy over Wales this morning, particularly the southern area of the country.

“There was localised flooding there yesterday. Essentially, they are experiencing heavy intensity rain and winds. The weather is going to clear in South West England and South Wales but as the weather front clears, it is being replaced by some heavy showers.”

He added: “Essentially, the picture is very disturbed, but the worst of the weather is now heading to northern England and the southern uplands of Scotland.”

The Environment Agency has 27 flood watches in place, mainly in Wales.Three flood warnings are also in place on rivers in Devon and Cornwall, a spokesman said.

Parts of the UK experienced gale-force winds, with gusts of more than 60mph recorded at headlands near Torbay in Devon this morning.

The Met Office issued severe weather warnings across large swaths of the country, including all of Wales and all of South West England, the West Midlands and parts of Northern Ireland.

It said: “The ground is already fairly saturated across much of the country following the rainfall this summer. This heavy rainfall is going to collect on the ground rather than drain away.”

Bodmin Moor in Cornwall was the wettest place in Britain yesterday, with more than one inch of rain falling overnight.