UK storm warnings as ‘weather bomb’ hits

Forecasters said that “very strong winds” were likely to affect northern and central parts of Britain from early morning on Wednesday and last through until early Thursday.

The whole of the Western Isles was left without power after an outage just before 7am on Wednesday. Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution said its engineers were working to restore supplies.

And a rescue operation has been launched to help a Spanish fishing vessel in difficulties off Orkney. Shetland Coastguard said the coastguard rescue helicopter and Stromness Lifeboat had been sent to the scene.

Ferry and train services have been cancelled in northern Scotland and police warned that travel conditions could be “hazardous”. Many ferry services operated by Caledonian MacBrayne in the west of Scotland were cancelled on Wednesday morning. And the public were warned to expect dangerous conditions, especially along causeways and coastal roads exposed to the west.

The Met Office said that it could not be certain of the exact strength of the winds but that that storms were likely to hit Northern Ireland, as well as the Scottish Highlands and Islands, striking as far south as Glasgow. The Met Office issued amber “be prepared” warnings.

High winds are also set to hit northern parts of England and Wales, with yellow “be aware” warnings in place.

Read Liam Dutton's blog: Ten things you need to know about Wednesday's weather bomb

Steve Willington, chief meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “Very strong winds are likely to affect northern and central parts of the UK from early Wednesday and last through until early Thursday as a very deep low pressure system moves slowly eastwards between Scotland and Iceland.

“A period of severe gales is likely over northern and central Britain, as well as the potential for storm force winds over north western coastal areas of Scotland.”

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has more than 20 flood alerts and warnings in place, particularly for coastal areas. Several train services will also be cancelled as a safety precaution, Network Rail and train operator ScotRail said.

The process behind the storm – rapid cyclogenesis – is a deep low pressure system moving between Scotland and Iceland.

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