Amber warnings issued for Storm Amy with 95mph winds

The Met Office has issued two amber severe weather warning, externals for Storm Amy - the first named storm of the season - which will hit the UK on Friday and Saturday.

The amber warnings are in place for strong winds across parts of Northern Ireland and western and northern Scotland starting from mid-afternoon Friday until Saturday morning.

Yellow severe weather warnings for wind and rain are also in place between midday on Friday to midnight on Saturday.

Amy will move to the north-west of the United Kingdom bringing gusts up to 95mph (153 km/h). Gales are expected widely with heavy rain.

There is the possibility of damage and transport disruption into the weekend.

During Friday afternoon Storm Amy will move close to Scotland with heavy rain and strong winds building across the UK leading to significant impacts for some. Overnight, the winds will peak across Scotland as heavy rain sweeps south-east across England and Wales.

Within the amber warning areas there could be gusts of wind of 60-70mph (97-113km/h) with exposed areas seeing gusts of perhaps 95mph (153 km/h).

Additionally across Scotland, parts of north-west England and North Wales a yellow severe weather warning for wind will come into force from 18:00 BST on Friday until 23:59 on Saturday.

A Met Office yellow severe weather warning for wind will come into force in Northern Ireland from 16:00 BST Friday to 06:00 Saturday.

Widespread gusts of 50-60mph (80 - 96 km/h) will be likely within the warning area but may reach up to 70mph (113 km/h) in some places for a time.

Exposed coasts and hills could experience gusts as high as 80mph (129 km/h).

These will be damaging winds which could blow trees over. As many trees are still in full leaf, they are more likely to be toppled with branches broken off than during the winter when the wind can whistle through them unimpeded.

Power cuts are possible.

There will also be transport disruption, particularly across Scotland with the possibility of cancelled ferries and restrictions on the road and rail network.

Flights from Scottish airports may also be delayed or cancelled.

The most destructive winds will ease during Saturday morning but it will remain very windy through the day.

Across the UK, gusts will widely be up to 40-55mph (64 - 89 km/h).

Even these lower wind speeds have the potential to bring further disruption during Saturday.

As well as strong winds, Amy will also bring some heavy rain on Friday.

In addition to the warnings for wind, there is a yellow Met Office warning for rain across much of Scotland from 12:00 BST to 23:59 Friday.

20-30mm (0.8-1in) of rain is expected widely with up to 50mm (2in) over some hilly areas in the south-west and Southern Highlands.

With rainfall totals building after spells of heavy rain through this week, there is the risk of further localised flooding.

The main area of rain will eventually move away to the south-east of the UK in the early hours of Saturday morning.

But though Saturday will still be very windy, there will be a mixture of sunny spells and showers.

Most of these showers will come in across northern and western parts of the UK.

By Sunday, Storm Amy will have moved further out into the North Sea so it will be drier with lighter winds for the second half of the weekend.

The next storm name will be Bram. A new list of names is issued every year by the Met Office before the season starts in September with both male and female names chosen by the public.

Storms can be named by either the Met Office, Met Éireann or the Netherlands weather service KNMI when impacts are forecast to be "medium" to "high".

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