THE MET Office has warned that strong winds hitting the UK today could be fatal for Brits who get caught in it.
The dangerous weather will affect travel for millions, as well as cause power cuts and disrupt mobile phone coverage.
5
5
5
The forecaster issued a yellow weather warning for wind in western areas of the UK, including Northern Ireland, parts of Scotland and Wales, and the north-west and south-west of England from 8am to 10pm on Saturday.
On Friday the Met Office said in its update: “Stronger gusts are now expected across some parts of the warning area, with likelihood also increased.”
It warned of injuries and danger to life from “large waves and beach material being thrown on to sea fronts, coastal roads and properties”.
It added: “Road, rail, air and ferry services may be affected, with longer journey times and cancellations possible”.
There could also be power cuts, and mobile phone coverage could be affected.
Wet and windy conditions are forecast to arrive on Friday, heading into Saturday, as Storm Kathleen rolls in.
‘Dangerous winds’ warning
A yellow wind warning will cover Northern Ireland and the whole west coast from Cornwall up to Scotland today.
The Met Office has issued a “danger to life” warning as snow and winds spark road and rail chaos and 70mph Storm Kathleen barrels towards the UK.
The Met Office said: “Injuries and danger to life from flying debris are possible.
“Injuries and danger to life could occur from large waves and beach material being thrown onto sea fronts, coastal roads and properties.”
Chief Meterologist Dan Suri said: “Storm Kathleen will bring strong gusty winds to western areas of the UK through Saturday.
“Gusts of 50 to 60mph are expected quite widely.
“Some exposed spots, particularly in coastal Northern Ireland, will see 60 to 70mph gusts with large waves also expected.
“There will also be some blustery showers in the west with the eastern side of the UK seeing a drier and brighter day.”
Southerly winds are said to gust widely to 50-60mph on Saturday, while some exposed spots, including Northern Ireland, will see gusts to 70mph with large waves also likely.
Met Office meteorologist Greg Dewhurst said: “Winds pick up further through Friday evening, overnight into Saturday, where as we start Saturday morning we’ll see widely across the country gusts of 30-40mph.
“In western parts of the UK, inland, we could see gusts of 40 to 50mph and then around the western coast of the UK we could see gusts of 60-70mph.”
In recent update on X, formerly Twitter, the weather firm said: “This rapidly deepening storm is moving north towards Ireland but very strong winds are also expected in western parts of the UK on Saturday.”
A yellow warning for snow had been in place on Friday in Scotland from the early hours through to 9am covering central, Tayside & Fife, Grampian, Highlands and Eilean Siar and Strathclyde.
Storm Kathleen, named by the Irish meteorological service Met Eireann, is the 11th named storm in eight months.
It is only the second time in a UK storm season that the letter K has been reached in the alphabet.
TRAVEL CHAOS
Brits have learnt that ScotRail has cancelled trains between Glasgow and Edinburgh via Shotts because of flooding on the lines.
As well as that, traffic Scotland said motorists face troublesome conditions on the road between Braemar and Glenshee.
Elsewhere, some lines are blocked between Reading and Paddington after a freight train was derailed.
The Aslef trade union is staging strikes across the UK rail network today, adding to the disruption.
Train running between the two stations will be cancelled or delayed, GWR said.
Airlines Jet2 and Ryanair have warned British families could face flight delays over the weekend.
Read more on the Scottish Sun
Ryanair said the stormy weather would cause “potential disruptions to and from the UK”.
The budget airline also told passengers that the weather conditions are affecting “all airlines” operating to and from the UK.
5
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25431967/LaserCannon1_2048x1152.png)