UK weather: Storm Ciara to bring 80mph winds as Met Office issues warnings for whole country

Delays to road, rail and air travel expected, along with power cuts and flying debris

The Met Office has warned “very strong winds” will be felt throughout the country as Storm Ciara is set to hit the UK.

Forecasters have issued a yellow weather warning covering the entirety of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, lasting from 6pm on Saturday until the end of Sunday, in what is the third storm to hit the UK in recent months.

Gales of up to 80mph are expected in exposed coastal areas and hills, while gusts of up to 60mph are expected in inland areas, especially in the north and west.

The Met Office said people should expect delays to road, rail and air travel, adding there could also be power cuts and building damage caused by the high winds.

Spokesman Graham Madge told The Independent the weather front was “Ciara rather abruptly barging her way through” and bringing a “spell of rather unsettled weather”.

“The reason that we’ve been able to name a little bit ahead of where we would be normally is that we’ve got increased confidence in the development of this system following what’s happening in North America,” Mr Madge said.

“At the moment in North America we’ve got a pool of colder air, which is descending across eastern parts of north America that’s encountering warmer air further south. That will impact what’s happening here, as it intensifies the jet stream.”

“We’ve got good confidence that there will be strong winds across the entire UK.

“At the moment the entire UK is sitting under a yellow warning and as we get nearer to Storm Ciara’s arrival on Saturday and into Sunday then we will be able to look at those warnings and see whether there is any refinement necessary, either potentially upgrading to amber or removing some parts of the UK once we’ve got more certainty over timing and track.”

Storm Ciara will also bring bands of heavy rain.

Mr Madge said the high winds could disrupt power and travel networks and warned of flying debris, explaining there could be some potential for snow across parts of the UK next week.

“With the arrival of Ciara, which is rather abruptly barging her way through, we’ve got two fairly settled days in prospect with things changing towards and over the weekend. But that will mark a spell of rather unsettled weather.

“We will expect to see a number of low pressure systems coming our way, courtesy of that invigorated jetstream, and they will be bringing strong winds and heavy rain.

“There’s a possibility that if we’ve got cold air to the north we may get some transient snow.”

Before Storm Ciara reaches the UK, Wednesday and Thursday will be mostly fine, with the potential for frost and fog in some locations.

Friday will be more unsettled, with spells of rain and a developing breeze.

Storm Ciara follows Storm Atiyah, which hit on 8-9 December, and Storm Brendan, which lashed the country with wind and rain on 13-14 January.