The UK is set to be battered by 70mph winds and heavy rain this weekend, with yellow weather warnings in place across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on Friday and Sunday.
London and parts of central and southern England are the only areas which are not expected to be hit by the worst of the weather.
The Met Office warned of possible flooding in parts of Scotland, South Wales, and south-west England over the course of the weekend.
Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge said: “We are in a very unsettled period of weather at the moment, with the exception perhaps being a slightly better situation tomorrow, but certainly there are weather warnings affecting pretty much all parts of the UK today.”
On Friday, south and west Wales, south-west Scotland and eastern parts of Northern Ireland could see wind gusts of 65mph to 70mph on exposed coasts and 50mph to 60mph more widely within the warning areas.
Parts of Scotland could see 30-40mm of rainfall over a six-hour period on Friday, and up to around 70mm possible over higher ground within the warning areas.
On Saturday winds are expected to subside but increase once again through Sunday, with many central, northern and western parts of the UK seeing gusts of up to 50-60mph.
It is also predicted that on Sunday, winds of up to 70mph could hit exposed spots along Irish Sea coastlines, Scottish Islands, and other areas of high ground further inland.
Heavy rain will accompany the strong winds, particularly in the west, making for very poor weather conditions, especially on roads.
Warnings issued for Friday are in place until around 6pm, affecting major cities including Belfast, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester.
The Environment Agency has issued two flood warnings in Wiltshire, with 25 flood alerts across southern England, and one along the east coast near Bridlington.
Meanwhile, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has issued one flood warning in Perth and Kinross and seven flood alerts across Scotland.
“Due to heavy and persistent rain, flood alerts are in place for the south-west and north-east throughout Friday and in to Saturday morning,” the SEPA said in a post on X.
Yellow Warning: Yellow warnings can be issued for a range of weather situations. Many are issued when it is likely that the weather will cause some low level impacts, including some disruption to travel in a few places. Many people may be able to continue with their daily routine, but there will be some that will be directly impacted and so it is important to assess if you could be affected.
Amber Warning: There is an increased likelihood of impacts from severe weather, which could potentially disrupt your plans. This means there is the possibility of travel delays, road and rail closures, power cuts and the potential risk to life and property.
Red Warning: Dangerous weather is expected and, if you haven’t already done so, you should take action now to keep yourself and others safe from the impact of the severe weather. It is very likely that there will be a risk to life.
“Localised flooding from rivers and surface water of low-lying land, individual properties and roads is possible and may cause disruption to transport routes.”
Police Scotland said ferry services from Dumfries and Galloway to Northern Ireland have been axed over storm warnings.
Wales and Northern Ireland have not issued any flood warnings, but there are two flood alerts in place in South Wales.
The Met Office has also warned of travel delays and loss of power, with winds reaching 70mph for parts of the country.
On Sunday new warnings of heavy rain and strong winds will be issued for much of the country between 7am until 9pm.
“On Sunday, we have a large area of low pressure coming in and bringing very wet and windy conditions,” Madge said.
“Pretty much everywhere from the southern tips of Cornwall up to Yorkshire and then up to including everywhere north and west of that in the UK is affected by patterns of rain and wind.”
The Met Office said it will continue to monitor the warnings and will escalate where necessary, keeping a close eye on South Wales.
Despite the wet and windy weather, temperatures will be warmer, with highs of 15°C in London and 13°C-14°C in Edinburgh and Belfast.
“With rainfall in the area at the moment and with further expected on Sunday, that could present quite challenging conditions for local communities in South Wales,” Madge added.
“The weather pattern that we’ve got at the moment is it’s really a tropical flow that’s set up, coming in from much further south in the Atlantic, so that’s got mild and moist air flow associated with it that’s responsible for bringing sort of today’s wind and rain.
“In the weekend that will be amplified by this low pressure, which is currently building off Canada and will come across the Atlantic to affect us by Sunday.”
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