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Storm Austen named as Met Office issues yellow wind warning for south Wales and south-west England
The first named storm of the autumn will bring gusts of up to 70mph and the risk of power cuts and travel disruption from Friday, the Met Office has said.
The Met Office has named Storm Austen as the first storm of the autumn season, issuing a yellow severe weather warning for wind that will come into force at midnight on Friday, according to the BBC [1].
The warning covers south Wales, south-west England and southern coastal counties of England, and will remain in force until midday on Friday, the BBC reported [1]. Wind gusts of up to 70mph are expected in these areas, which the Met Office says is likely to bring damage to buildings, transport disruption and the risk of power cuts [1].
More widely, gusts of 50-60mph are expected around west Wales and through southern England, according to the report [1]. Heavy rain will move in across England and Wales through Thursday night, accompanied by strengthening winds, as a rapidly deepening area of low pressure approaches from the Atlantic [1].
Scotland and Northern Ireland are expected to largely avoid the impacts of Storm Austen, the BBC said [1]. The strongest winds will ease across the south-west later on Friday morning, though the rest of England and Wales will remain blustery with heavy rain at times through the day [1].
Ahead of Austen's arrival, strengthening winds are already forecast for Wednesday around west Wales and southern England, with heavy rain across the UK over the coming days, according to the report [1].
Storm Austen is expected to clear into the North Sea later on Friday, bringing a quieter spell with clear skies overnight into Saturday [1]. However, a further deep area of low pressure will move in at the start of the weekend, this time tracking towards Scotland, the BBC said [1]. This system is not expected to be as severe as Austen and is therefore unlikely to be named, but could bring gusts of 70-80mph to western Scotland, with delays or cancellations to ferries and restrictions on bridges [1].
Conditions are expected to turn windy elsewhere across the UK through Saturday, with heavy rain spreading east, the report said [1]. Sunday is forecast to turn drier but remain very windy, particularly towards the north-east of Scotland [1].
