AN official Met Office weather watch has been put in place after East Lancashire was battered by high winds and torrential rain overnight.

A street in Brierfield has been closed after scaffolding was damaged in gusts and there were fears it could collapse in to the road.

And the M6 in Lancashire was closed at around 5.10am southbound after a caravan flipped over in the winds at junction 30 at Samlesbury.

The Met Office has now put a new warning in place of gusts tonight of between 60 to 70 mph in East Lancashire.

Police shut Colne Road in Brierfield from around 8pm last night following concerns over the damaged scaffolding.

Crew manager Rick Courtney from Burnley fire station said the conditions made it too dangerous for his firefighters to attempt to secure the scaffolding.

He said: "A large amount of the scaffolding had come away from the end-terrace building and the winds had bent many of the scaffolding poles. It was too windy and too dangerous to send anyone on to the scaffolding so the police had to close the road and wait for specialists to make the scene safe."