Injuries and danger to life are “likely” as heavy rain and 80mph winds of Storm Ashley batter the UK on Sunday, the Met Office has said.
Road users in Scotland have been advised to avoid unnecessary travel where possible, while the annual Great South Run in Portsmouth, Hampshire, has been cancelled because of weather-related safety concerns.
The Met Office has issued several weather warnings for wind during the upcoming storm, including an amber warning for the north-west of Scotland from 9am until midnight, and a yellow warning for the entirety of Scotland and Northern Ireland, and parts of north-west England and Wales between 3am and midnight.
A further yellow warning for wind has also been issued for Monday between midnight and 9am for northern Scotland, including Orkney and Shetland.
In coastal areas, injuries and danger to life are “likely” because of large waves and beach material being thrown onto roads and properties, the weather service warned.
Despite the wet and windy weather, temperatures are expected to climb to highs of 17C in southern England on Sunday, Met Office meteorologist Dan Stroud said.
He continued: “The strongest winds are likely to come through during the course of tomorrow afternoon.
“It is going to be quite a bright afternoon but it’s going to be very windy and gusty out there, especially in the north of the country so don’t be sort of lulled into a false sense of security.”
He added that the “very strong, severe gales” on Sunday coincide with high spring tides, which could also result in “very large waves”.
Outside of the warning zones, the rest of the UK, including inland areas, will still feel the impact of Storm Ashley with “very blustery” conditions and rain moving across the south and east of England, he added.
Police Scotland have advised motorists to “plan ahead and avoid unnecessary travel where possible” ahead of the “strong likelihood” of disruption on roads, while Transport Scotland has warned of likely delays to public transport, including the country’s ferry network.
Chief Superintendent Hilary Sloan, Police Scotland’s head of road policing, said: “Make sure your vehicle has sufficient fuel and is completely roadworthy, with tyre pressure and tread meeting legal requirements.
“Ensure your mobile phone is fully charged in the event you need to call for assistance and if it is likely you may be within your vehicle for long periods of time, take additional clothing and water with you.”
The Met Office has advised people in affected areas to check and plan how to secure loose items outside their properties, prepare for potential power cuts by considering gathering torches and batteries and staying up to date with the forecast.
As of Saturday evening, the Environment Agency’s website listed 37 active flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, and 127 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible.
The warnings include multiple areas of the River Severn, the south Cornwall coast and the Wye Estuary.
Strong, gale force winds are due to continue on Sunday night, through to Monday morning meaning “fallen debris and trees” could impact commuters at the start of the week, Mr Stroud added.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here