Britain will be hit by an 80mph storm this weekend with up to three inches of rain amid concerns over ‘danger to life from flying debris’, the Met Office has said.
A yellow warning for rain and wind was issued today for the whole of England, Wales and Northern Ireland – running from Friday at 3pm until Sunday at 6am.
If the deep low pressure system is named, it will be given the title Storm Darragh – following on from storms Connall on November 27 and Bert on November 22.
Meteorologists warned of travel disruption with bad conditions expected to impact road, rail, air and ferry services -while homes and businesses could be flooded.
Buildings could also be damaged by ‘tiles blown from roofs’, while spray and flooding could lead to difficult driving conditions for motorists and some road closures.
Power cuts and mobile phone coverage outages could occur, communities may become cut off by flooded roads and some routes and bridges could close.
Forecasters also said ‘injuries and danger to life could occur from large waves and beach material being thrown onto sea fronts, coastal roads and properties’.
And they warned of a ‘small chance of fast flowing or deep floodwater causing danger to life’ and a ‘small chance of injuries and danger to life from flying debris’.
A new Met Office rain and wind warning is in place from Friday at 3pm until Sunday at 6am
There is also a separate wind warning for 70mph gusts from 3pm tomorrow until 6am on Friday
A Met Office wind warning for northern Scotland runs from 4pm today until 9am tomorrow
The Met Office said the system may cross England and Wales from Friday afternoon, bringing a ‘bring a period of strong winds to much of the warning area, with some heavy rain likely to the north and west of the low centre’.
Hill snow could fall in northern areas above 200m (650ft), while around 15mm (0.6in) to 25mm (1in) of rain may fall quite widely, particularly across central, northern and western parts of England and Wales.
The warning added that ‘exposed higher ground in the north and west – particularly parts of Wales, which are at greatest risk of seeing flooding impacts’ – could locally see 50mm (2in) to 70mm (2.8in).
Winds are expected to quite widely gust to around 40 to 50mph inland but locally could gust in excess of 60mph.
Around coasts, winds may gust to 60 to 70mph, ‘perhaps locally nearer 80 mph’.
The warning added: ‘The wind and rain may cause disruption to travel, with difficult driving conditions likely.’
The storm will then clear to the east on Saturday night.
Separately, the Met Office has also issued a wind warning for northern Scotland running from 4pm today until 9am tomorrow amid forecasts of 75mph gusts.
Another wind warning for 70mph gusts is also in place from 3pm tomorrow until 6am on Friday, covering parts of the Midlands and North West of England as well as North Wales, Northern Ireland and South West Scotland.
The Environment Agency has 41 flood alerts (in amber) and five warnings (in red) in England
It comes after much of Britain woke up to frost this morning with sub-zero temperatures across England and a yellow warning for ice in Scotland.
The mercury fell to -3.1C (26.4F) in Aberdeenshire early this morning, while the coldest place in England was Marham in Norfolk which dropped to -1.8C (28.8F).
Other English counties falling below -1C overnight were Surrey (Charlwood), Hampshire (Odiham) and Dorset (Hurn), while London dropped to 1C (34F).
The Met Office issued a yellow warning for ice across most of Scotland until 10am today amid concerns over ‘injuries from slips and falls on icy surfaces’, after a band of rain and snow moved east across parts of the country yesterday afternoon.
Meanwhile the Environment Agency still has 41 flood alerts and five warnings in place for England today after torrential downpours from Storm Bert ten days ago.
Met Office meteorologist Amy Bokota said this morning: ‘Another cool and bright start to the day, but it is all change as we head through this afternoon.
‘We do have a strong westerly jet stream pushing an area of low pressure across the UK through Wednesday afternoon, and then we do see a further frontal system pushed on this strong westerly jet as we head through Thursday.
‘This is setting up for quite an unsettled end to the week with further frontal systems pushing through.’
Today will be a cold but mostly dry and bright day, with highs of 10C (50F) in South East England and Wales, 12C (54F) in the South West, 8C (46F) in the Midlands and North West, and 5C (41F) in the North East.
Scotland will get up to 7C (45F), while Northern Ireland will reach 9C (48F).
It comes after the coldest UK temperature yesterday was -6.4C (20.5F) at Braemar in Aberdeenshire, while the high was 11.2C (52.2F) on the Isles of Scilly.
Ms Bokota said: ‘A fairly bright start to the day, but there is a yellow ice warning in force with parts of Scotland through this morning.
‘Elsewhere, fairly hazy sunshine around but a largely fine day ahead of this frontal system pushing into parts of Northern Ireland and North West Scotland as we head into the early part of the afternoon.
‘Winds strengthening here and it’ll be turning generally quite cloudy and blustery. With those winds and those higher temperatures with that southerly flow, we start to get some milder air moving in.
‘So temperatures a touch higher at 10C or 12C across the far South West, but it still be fairly cool down the East Coast. Still holding on single figures and still feeling fairly cool and crisp here.
A band of heavy rain and strong winds will move into Northern Ireland and Scotland this afternoon, possible gales across the North West of Scotland where the warning is in place.
Ms Bokota continued: ‘Heading through the rest of the afternoon then, so that frontal system steadily moving eastwards as we head through the later part of the afternoon and evening.
‘We do have a yellow wind warning in force for parts of North West and northern Scotland and later on when that front system clears through, further blustery showers moving through here as well.’
Tonight, the band of rain will move south-eastwards, but clearer spells will develop behind in the North West as winds slowly ease across the West.
Ms Bokota said: ‘Temperatures will be notably milder particularly across Scotland, up into the mid-single figures and less in the way of widespread frost.
‘Certainly milder across the South West, 10C or 12C to start the day and it’ll be a fairly damp and cool start to the day across the far South East of England.’
Rain will clear the South East through tomorrow morning, but it will remain cloudy for most in the South. Heavy rain will also move into the North through tomorrow as winds pick up.
Ms Bokota explained: ‘It’ll be a damp start to the day certainly for south-eastern England and it will be a fairly miserable rush hour with that rain and that wind.
‘There will be a brief interlude of some drier conditions but fairly breezy through Thursday, but it won’t be long before further showers and heavy rain move in from the West.
‘Temperatures notably milder, so around 10C or 11C across the northern half of the country, 13C or possibly 14C in the far South.’
The Met Office warned conditions are likely to become more unsettled from Friday onwards, with ‘heavy rain and strong winds at times, particularly into the weekend with gales possible’.
And Ms Bokota said: ‘Heading through Thursday evening, that will slowly start to move away, but we do have further frontal systems arriving from Friday into Saturday – a little bit of uncertainty on this.’
National Rail has also warned of possible train disruption in Scotland later this week, saying in an alert that ‘stormy conditions may develop on Friday with potential to continue over the weekend’.
However, there were no weather-related rail disruptions as of 8am this morning.
