UK to be battered by high winds with 140kph gusts forecast

Met Office says a disturbed weather pattern will develop across the UK for the whole week

Waves crash against the lighthouse in Seaham Harbour, County Durham on January 31. PA

Residents in Scotland and the north of England are being told to brace themselves for high winds as the Met Office warned of gusts of up to 140kph for the entire country all week.

The forecaster had issued a yellow alert for wind on Wednesday and Thursday for parts of Northern Ireland, most of Scotland and the north of England, and warned that this could be upgraded.

Weather experts are predicting the entire country is set to be battered by high winds, with Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan warning that “this whole week is going to see quite a disturbed weather pattern developing across the UK”.

Forecasters have predicted that the worst of the wind looks likely to hit midweek, with a 24-hour weather warning coming into force from 6pm on Wednesday, stretching down from the Orkney Islands to parts of Yorkshire and Lancashire, as a weather system moves in.

“That’s likely to bring some severe gales and possibly storm-force winds to parts of this region," Mr Morgan said.

He said western parts of Scotland looked like they would bear the brunt of the strongest winds, expected to be up to 140kph on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

“That’s strong enough to bring some quite widespread disruption, and it’s an area of the country that’s seen several named storms this winter season already,” Mr Morgan said.

The meteorologist said there was a possibility that this could become a named storm.

As part of the yellow wind warning, the forecaster said there was the potential of inland gusts of up to between 95kph and 1100kph, with exposed coasts and hills seeing speeds reaching 140kph.

“It’s not just going to be strong winds this week,” Mr Morgan said.

He said there was likely to be snow and ice warnings issued for Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England over the next few days.

And the bad wintery weather was not just for the northern parts of the UK.

“The southern parts of England and Wales will see their turn," Mr Morgan said. "It looks very, very windy in the south at this stage for Friday.

“There could be some quite widespread travel disruption in parts of the UK through this week. All parts of the UK will see some very strong winds at times.

“It’s Scotland and the North’s turn on Wednesday and into Thursday, and then it’s probably going to be the southern parts of England and Wales that will see the very strongest winds on Friday.”