The Met Office has issued several yellow weather warnings as Storm Kathleen is set to barrel into the UK and Ireland with 70mph winds, rain and snow.
The storm, the 11th of the season and named by the Irish Meteorological Service on Thursday, is set to roll in with blustery conditions on Friday.
It is expected to bring winds of up to 60mph-70mph in exposed areas along the west coast of England and Scotland on Saturday, and 50mph more widely, with the Met OFfice issuing a weather warning for Saturday. The forecaster said coastal areas can expect to see large waves.
They added some damage to buildings, such as tiles blown from roofs, could happen while injuries and danger to life from flying debris are possible.
⚠️ Yellow weather warning UPDATED ⚠️
— Met Office (@metoffice) April 5, 2024
Strong winds across Northern Ireland, southern Scotland and western parts of England and Wales
Saturday 0800 – 2200
Latest info https://t.co/QwDLMfRBfs
Stay #WeatherAware⚠️ pic.twitter.com/Ou5lNCiT17
Travel disruption is possible on Friday as heavy downpours are forecast across central Scotland, with a yellow weather warning for rain issued.
The warning, covering the central, Tayside and Fife, south-west Scotland, Lothian Borders and Strathclyde areas, says there is likely to be “15-25mm of rain, much of this falling in around six hours with a few locations seeing up to 35mm overnight”.
The Met Office warned there is a chance homes and businesses in Glasgow and Sterling could flood because of the heavy rain.
A yellow warning for snow was also in place on Friday from the early hours through to 9am covering central, Tayside and Fife, Grampian, Highlands and Eilean Siar and Strathclyde, with downfalls particularly expected over higher ground.
Some areas could see 10cm or more of snow in places above 300 metres but “2-5 cm of snow is expected fairly widely above 250 metres, with a chance that a few places within the warning area at lower levels could see a few centimetres settle.”
Take a look at the maps below for the areas in the UK set to be battered by the storm:
Looking ahead at the next 10 days, Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said: “There will be some wet weather around, could be quite heavy at times, but there are also some signs of something a little bit drier coming up later on.
“For the time being though, low pressure in control as we go through the next few days, various areas of low pressure pushing their way across, bringing spells of wet weather and some blustery conditions too.
“As we head towards Friday though, we have an area of low pressure pushing towards us and this feature has actually been named Storm Olivia by the Portuguese met service. It is going to bring some blustery, showery weather across parts of the UK.”
However, while parts of the UK brace for Storm Kathleen, others are set to bask in temperatures hotter than Spain on Saturday - with Norfolk, London and Hull forecast to see temperatures of 20C on Saturday while Madrid hits 17C.
Mr Burkill said Saturday is likely to be the hottest day of the year so far. It will be the first time temperatures have reached 20C this year.
“On Friday, we’re already starting to see that warmer air coming in from the south, so temperatures rising likely to get into the mid to high teens across many parts of England and Wales and even across Scotland and Northern Ireland,” he added.
“Temperatures will rise higher than they have been through the start of the week. As we go through Friday night we see another wave of wet weather pushing its way up from the south.”
The Met Office forecast for Sunday reads: “Very windy, with gales in places. Another day of sunshine and blustery showers. Some more general rain possible on Monday.”