Strong winds including gusts of up to almost 100kph along exposed southern coasts have been recorded in the UK, as the nation prepares to face unsettled weather in the coming days, the Met Office has said.
The forecast comes as heavy rain arrived across Northern Ireland, Wales and south-west England.
There is also an “increasing risk of snow over the higher ground for parts of the UK, especially in the north”, due to a blast of cold air heading across the country on Wednesday morning, the forecaster added.
Yellow weather warnings for wind and rain have been issued, as “persistent rain” that is “heavy at times” is expected to extend north-eastward across Northern Ireland and south-west Scotland on Tuesday.
People have been warned to expect some “difficult travel conditions”.
A yellow weather warning for wind covering Northern Ireland along with London and south-east England, south-west England and Wales is also in place for Wednesday.
“West or north-west winds are expected to increase during Wednesday morning, then remain strong for much of the day,” it states.
“Gusts of 40-50mph [64-80kph] are expected widely within the warning area, but some coastal areas, especially in parts of south and west Wales and Cornwall, could see gusts above 60-70mph [96-112kph] during Wednesday morning.
“Outbreaks of heavy rain or showers will accompany the strong winds.”
The strong winds, low temperatures and heavy rain or showers being felt in many places is down to an Atlantic low-pressure system that is slowly moving eastward across the UK.
Weather warnings issued in the UK — in pictures
“A low-pressure system will bring a period of wet and windy weather today and tomorrow,” Met Office chief meteorologist Matthew Lehnert said.
“Thick cloud and heavy rain will continue to push in from the west, bringing 50 to 60mph [80-96kph] winds along western coasts. Snow is likely to fall over parts of upland Scotland overnight.
“Some disruption due to strong winds is likely on Wednesday, especially in southern and western areas, as well as the potential for heavy rainfall and even some snow, though the latter probably confined to high ground in the north.
“It will be another cool day with temperatures of 7°C to 10°C in the west, with 11°C to 13°C possible in the south-east. However, it will feel colder in the strong winds.”
The grip of the unsettled conditions is set to last for the rest of the week, with sunshine and heavy showers for many on Thursday and persistent rain in the south on Friday.
It is then set to become drier and brighter into the weekend, while temperatures may start to rise next week.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
