Severe weather warnings as Atlantic storms head to UK

The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings for northern parts of the UK for Friday and Saturday as two Atlantic storms approach the country.

The forecasting service said the UK would see “some very unsettled weather” over the next few days as the two storms pass to the north.

Northern Scotland is likely to see the strongest winds as the storms pass on Friday and Saturday,  the Met Office said, with gusts of up to 90 miles per hour possible in the most-exposed regions.

It added that while it will be windy in most areas, winds will be less strong in southern areas.

The Met Office said the jet stream, a narrow band of fast-moving winds high up in the atmosphere, is playing a role in the development of the storms.

Chief meteorologist Frank Saunders said: “The jet stream is going to be particularly strong later this week and this effectively fuels the low pressure systems moving across the Atlantic, causing them to deepen rapidly as they pass to the north of the UK.

“This will bring some very strong winds across the UK, but they will most likely be strongest in northern Scotland – which is expected to see the greatest impacts from the weather. This is likely to cause disruption in places and people should stay up to date with our forecasts and warnings to get the latest information as we move closer to the end of the week.”

In the north, windy conditions will be felt as early as Wednesday, but the winds will increase significantly late on Thursday and into Friday as the first of two low pressures passes north of Scotland. This system is likely to bring gusts of 60 to 70 miles per hour across northern parts of the UK and perhaps 80-90 mph in the most exposed parts of the far north of Scotland, the Met Office said.

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