Storm Darragh: UK to be battered by rain, winds as amber warnings ...
Image source, Getty
Simon King
Lead Weather Presenter
Storm Darragh is set to bring damaging winds to parts of the UK on Saturday.
Northern Ireland, south-west Scotland and western parts of England and Wales could see gusts of up to 80mph (129km/h) from Darragh, which was named by the Met Office on Thursday.
Amber and yellow severe weather warnings have been issued with power cuts, building damage and transport disruption likely.
While heavy rain is also forecast, there is unlikely to be as much rainfall and flooding as seen with Storm Bert.
The fourth named storm of the season, Darragh comes only weeks after Storms Bert and Conall caused disruption at the end of November.
Chris Fawkes with the latest forecast for Storm Darragh
Late on Friday, a developing area of low pressure will start to bring heavy rain and strengthening winds across western parts of the UK.
As this develops further into Saturday, this becomes Storm Darragh with its centre crossing northern England.
An amber severe weather warning has been issued by the Met Office for strong winds in Northern Ireland, south-west Scotland and western areas of England and Wales from 3am to 9pm on Saturday.
Gusts will be around 70-80mph (113-129km/h), especially around coastal areas. Further inland, gusts will be 60-70mph (96-113km/h).
These wind gusts have the potential to damage buildings and will bring travel disruption, especially to ferry services in the Irish Sea.
There is a larger yellow Met Office warning across all parts of England and Wales for wind valid from 3pm on Friday through to 6am on Sunday when Darragh will have cleared into the North Sea.
Gusts will widely be around 40-50mph (64-80km/h) across England and Wales which could lead to some transport disruption on Saturday.
Risk of some flooding
Those affected by severe flooding after Storm Bert may be concerned by another storm and heavy rain.
While the rainfall totals associated with Storm Darragh will not be as high, around 2-3in (50-60mm) of rain is expected in parts of Wales and central and southern Scotland by Saturday lunchtime.
A yellow Met Office warning for rain is valid from 3pm on Friday to 12pm on Saturday across these areas as there may be some localised flooding impacts.
Otherwise, more widely across the UK, rainfall totals will be up to an inch (25mm).
There will also be some heavy snow for a time over the higher ground of Scotland as Storm Darragh moves through.
