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Storm Amy, the first named storm of the season, is due to batter northern parts of the UK late on Friday and into Saturday, the Met Office has warned.
Forecasters said the storm was likely to bring gale force winds of over 80mph as well as heavy rain to northern and western regions.
Tom Crabtree, the Met Office deputy chief meteorologist, said there was still uncertainty about the exact track Storm Amy would take and urged people to keep an eye on forecasts.
“The system will bring gale-force winds across northern and western regions, with gusts widely reaching 50 to 60 miles per hour inland in northern Britain, and potentially reaching 70 to 80 miles per hour in places,” he said.
Even stronger gusts were likely on exposed coasts and hills, mainly in the north-west, he said.
“Heavy rainfall is also expected, particularly over western Scotland, where totals could exceed 30-50mm in six to nine hours, increasing the risk of localised flooding. Forecasts and warnings will be updated as the situation becomes more clear.”
In anticipation of Storm Amy, yellow wind and rain warnings have been put in place for Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of north and north-west England for Friday and Saturday, including a risk of danger to life.
Transport Scotland has warned of travel disruption and advised motorists to check the Traffic Scotland website before setting off. Train, ferry and air passengers should check with operators before travelling.
Martin Thomson, a spokesperson for Transport Scotland, said: “Storm Amy is set to bring heavy rain and strong winds to parts of Scotland and we expect to see disruption to the transport network in the warning areas.
“The rain and wind will bring difficult driving conditions, such as reduced visibility and surface water, and are also likely to affect the ferry and rail networks, so it’s important to plan your journey ahead of time.”
The UK Met Office has been naming storms since 2015 as a way of improving the communication of high-impact weather events.
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This year’s names begin with Amy and will be followed by Bram, Chandra, Dave and Eddie all the way up to Wubbo. There are no storm names beginning with a Q, U, X, Y and Z, which the Met Office said was “to ensure we are in line with the US National Hurricane Centre naming conventions”.
To get to Wubbo would be remarkable. There were six named storms in 2024-25, 12 the previous season and six before that.
The naming of storms has been considered a success, and comes on top of the yellow, amber and red weather warnings issued by the Met Office.
Before the arrival of Amy, a yellow warning for rain also comes into place at 5pm on Wednesday covering west and north-west Scotland until the end of Thursday.
