Storm Bram: Amber warnings in place as wind and rain hit UK

Severe weather warnings from the Met Office, including two amber ones, are in place as the winds of Storm Bram continue to strengthen.

Gusts of up to 90mph (144km/h) are likely across north-west Scotland but strong winds will be felt widely into Wednesday.

Heavy rain has fallen overnight with more than 100mm (3.94in) recorded in Whitebarrow in Dartmoor in the last 24 hours. 60mm (2.4in) has fallen in Treherbert in south Wales.

Amber warnings for wind start later on Tuesday in Northern Ireland and north-west Scotland.

Storm Bram - named by Met Eireann, Ireland's equivalent of the Met Office - has been developing rapidly on Tuesday, continuing to move northwards to the west of the UK. While rain will still be falling, the strength of the winds will now be the focus.

The strongest winds will be around Irish Sea coasts and up to the north-west of Scotland where severe gales are possible later on Tuesday.

A Met Office amber warning for wind, valid from 16:00 Tuesday to 03:00 GMT on Wednesday covers north-west Scotland where gusts of up to 90mph (144km/h) are possible for some locations.

The forecaster has also issued an amber weather warning for parts of Northern Ireland, which could see gusts of up to 80mph. The wind warning covers parts of Antrim, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone from 14:00 to 19:00 GMT.

Impacts will include delays and cancellations to some of the transport network as well as potential damage to some buildings.

Yellow warnings have also been issued. The first came into force across west Wales and south-west England from 22:00 Monday to 16:00 GMT on Tuesday with wind gusts widely 40-50mph (64-80km/h).

But additionally, yellow warnings will cover Northern Ireland from 09:00 to 22:00 GMT on Tuesday and much of Scotland and the north of England from 12:00 until 23:59 GMT.

The Met Office has also issued further yellow wind warnings covering much of Scotland that will be in place for most of Wednesday.

Gusts of 50-60mph (80-97km/h) will be felt widely but exposed coastal areas and higher ground could locally see gusts more than 70mph (113km/h).

Travel disruption and damage is also possible in these areas.

As well as strong winds, Bram will also bring more rain.

Amber warnings for heavy rain across Dartmoor and the Brecon Beacons have now expired.

The ground for many is already saturated after recent rainfall- some spots in south-west England recorded as much as 67% of average December rainfall in the first eight days of the month alone. Rainfall amounts in November were also particularly high.

There are a number of flood warnings and flood alerts in place across England and Wales, although many of these are associated with coastal flooding from strong winds.

Further localised flooding and travel disruption is expected as river catchments react. The Met Office has warned that fast flowing or deep floodwater is likely, causing danger to life, and to avoid travelling by road during potentially dangerous road conditions.

Over the last few months the UK has seen Storm Benjamin and Claudia, which were named by France and Spain respectively.

So far we have only experienced one storm named by the UK Met Office and our storm naming group - Storm Amy. That is why we go back to the 'B' name - Bram - on the UK, Ireland and Netherlands storm naming list.

The next storm after Bram will be named Chandra if medium or high impacts are expected.