UK weather forecast: Storm Bronagh to batter UK with winds up to 65mph after Storm Ali kills two

Met Office issues weather warnings for possibility of danger to life and damage to buildings

The second named storm of the season is set to bring heavy rain and winds of up to 65mph to parts of the UK and Ireland.

Storm Bronagh, an intense low pressure system named by the Met Office and Met Eireann, is expected to batter parts of the UK days after two people were killed during Storm Ali.

The Met Office has issued weather warnings for the possibility of a danger to life and damage to buildings.

The warnings come after, on Wednesday, a Swiss holidaymaker, named locally as Elvira Ferraii and said to have been in her 50s, was killed when the caravan she was in at Clifden ecoBeach Camping and Caravan Park in Ireland’s County Galway was blown off a cliff while she slept inside.

On the same day a falling tree in County Armagh killed a man in his 20s, who was working on behalf of public utility Northern Ireland Water in Slieve Gullion Forest Park, and injured his colleague

In Cheshire, a woman was seriously injured after a tree fell onto her car, and in the Highlands a man had to be rescued after becoming trapped under a digger in a river in the village of Rogart.

Bronagh is expected to develop across parts of Wales and southwest England on Thursday evening, the Met Office said, before spreading eastwards across England.

A yellow weather warning is in place for rain in Wales and parts of northwest England, and a yellow wind warning in place for much of England and parts of Wales later in the day.

The storm is expected to bring gale force winds through the evening and overnight into Friday, with wind gusts of 45-50mph predicted around exposed coasts and at some spots inland, as well as the possibility of some gusts of up to 65mph.

“We’ve got this low pressure that’s developing and pushing northeastwards across the UK, bringing some pretty wet weather,” Alex Burkill, a meteorologist at the Met Office, told The Independent.

“It is expected to deepen further, particularly as it makes its way across the north sea, and bring even stronger winds.”

Mr Burkill added: “Perhaps the strongest winds will be around morning rush hour [on Friday] around east and northeast England, particularly coastal areas, as the low really deepens.”

Highways England’s head of road safety, Richard Leonard, said: “We’re encouraging drivers to check the latest weather and travel conditions before setting off on journeys. If you do intend to travel, then plan your journey and take extra care, allowing more time for your journey.

“In high winds, there’s a particular risk to lorries, caravans and motorbikes so we’d advise drivers of these vehicles to slow down.

“Drivers of other vehicles should be aware of sudden gusts of wind which can affect handling and braking, and give high-sided vehicles, caravans and motorbikes plenty of space.”

On Wednesday, a wind gust of 91mph was recorded in County Down, Northern Ireland, the strongest wind gust in September in Northern Ireland since records began.

The unsettled weather is set to continue with another weather system forecast to bring more wind and rain across parts of the UK on Sunday and into Monday.

Additional reporting by Press Association