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The symptoms vary depending on which part of the brain is affected and the size of the damaged area. Usually the symptoms come on suddenly, but they can come on during sleep so that you wake up with them. If symptoms come on slowly but then gradually get worse over a few days, weeks or even months the symptoms are very unlikely to be due to a stroke.

Common symptoms of strokes include:

Muscle weakness or paralysis
This can affect any part of the body but most commonly affects the hand or arm, leg or face. Quite often the arm and leg are affected on one side. This is called hemiparesis or hemiplegia. Even if the arm or leg is not weak, people sometimes have difficulty controlling them and may be unsteady. This is called ataxia. Usually a stroke in one side of the brain causes the opposite side of the body to be affected.

Loss of sensation
Some people find that the feeling in part of their body is altered, with numbness or pins and needles.

Difficulty with speech
Strokes can cause slurred speech (this is called dysarthria) or sometimes difficulties in finding the right words (this is called dysphasia). They can also cause difficulties in reading (dyslexia) and writing. Some people have difficulties understanding speech and find it is almost like listening to a foreign language.

Visual symptoms
Strokes can cause double vision (diplopia) or quite commonly, loss of vision to one side so that the person cannot see anything to the left or the right side (hemianopia). Some people with stroke or transient ischaemic attacks lose vision in one eye.

Loss of awareness
Sometimes strokes, and especially those affecting the left side of the body, cause a loss of awareness of that side. The affected person may deny that there is any problem with a paralysed or numb arm or leg - they may even deny that the arm or leg is theirs. These and related problems are most commonly referred to as neglect and are very confusing for relatives and friends.

Dizziness
Strokes can cause a feeling of spinning called vertigo. This is sometimes linked with nausea, vomiting and unsteadiness.

Headache and vomiting
Some people complain of headache in the first few days after a stroke. This is most common with brain haemorrhages and is sometimes linked with nausea or vomiting.

Drowsiness or inconsciousness
In the first few days after a severe stroke people may become drowsy or even unconscious, so that they are not aware of their surroundings. Some people recover, although unconsciousness is a bad sign and a full recovery is less likely after a period of unconsciousness.