Dangerous flying debris and travel cancellations are expected as the first named storm of the season brings strong winds of up to 80mph to the
UK and
Ireland.
Amber severe
weather warnings for the north of England,
Scotland and Northern Ireland were issued ahead of
Storm Ali's arrival in the early hours of Wednesday.
Journeys by road, rail and air are likely to be disrupted and the conditions could also damage buildings, lead to power cuts and blow over trees.
Flying debris is likely and could pose a danger to life, the Met Office added, under Storm Ali, which is the first of the season to blow in across the UK.
Milder yellow wind warnings were also issued across Northern Ireland, Scotland, the north of England and Wales on Wednesday.
The amber warnings are in place from 8am to 5pm, while the yellow alerts are scheduled from 6am to 10pm.
Forecasters said that in the areas covered by the amber warning, people should expect:
- Flying debris is likely and could lead to injuries or danger to life
- Probably some damage to buildings, such as tiles blown from roofs or damage through falling trees and branches breaking
- Longer journey times and cancellations likely, as road, rail, air and ferry services may be affected
- Power cuts may occur, with the potential to affect other services, such as mobile phone coverage
- Some roads and bridges likely to close
- Large waves could affect coastal roads, sea fronts and properties
Forecasters cancelled a wind warning for Tuesday due to gusts not meeting the power threshold as Storm Helene fades away.
Meteorologist Dean Hall said parts of the UK felt gusts of about 30-40mph on Tuesday morning, with wind speeds reaching 50mph in parts of Wales.
Storm Helene, which was downgraded after initial warnings it may pose a risk to life, is moving away towards the north east and will have moved on by Wednesday.
"We've got rain currently across Scotland, northern England, eastern parts of Northern Ireland, associated with what was Storm Helene," Mr Hall said.
Wednesday could see winds of 60-70mph, the forecaster said, adding: "Certainly we could see close to 80mph, possibly even higher miles per hour in exposed areas in the far north of the country."
Meteorologist Bonnie Diamond added: "Winds will build quite quickly through the morning and remain very strong.
"Temperatures will remain fairly mild though as it brings in mild air from the Atlantic.
"Moving into Thursday we will see widespread heavy and persistent rain which looks set to change to sunshine and showers on Friday, before becoming more settled on Saturday."
Temperatures remain above average for this time of year with 24C (75F) possible in London on Tuesday after the mercury hit 26C (79F) in the capital on Monday.
The name's Idris, Storm Idris: This season's storms
Storm Ali is the first named storm of the season.
The full list of storm names for 2018/2019 is: Ali, Bronagh, Callum, Deirdre, Erik, Freya, Gareth, Hannah, Idris, Jane, Kevin, Lily, Max, Niamh, Oliver, Peggy, Ross, Saoirse, Tristan, Violet and Wyn.
It is the fourth year that the Met Office and Met Eireann have run the Name our Storms scheme, which aims to raise awareness of severe weather before it hits.
The season's names have been compiled from a list of submissions by the public, choosing some of the most popular names and also selecting those which reflect the nations, culture and diversity of the UK and Ireland.
UK weather map for Tuesday and week ahead
