Storm Amy is coming and she’s about to batter Britain with 80mph winds, heavy rain and possible power cuts, damage to buildings and travel disruption, the Met Office has warned.
The newly named storm will wreak havoc on the UK for 30 hours from Friday evening onwards and now every household caught in the warning zone is being urged to stockpile the items they may need to endure the extreme weather conditions.
The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning taking effect from Friday, October 3 at 6pm and lasting until 11.59pm on Saturday, October 4 due to Storm Amy.
In its advice for how to stay safe in storms issued to households along with its warning, the weather experts urged people to prepare in advance by gathering at least three items – a torch, batteries and a mobile phone power pack.
It said: “People cope better with power cuts when they have prepared for them in advance. It’s easy to do; consider gathering torches and batteries, a mobile phone power pack and other essential items.”
It also urged households to prepare your property by checking for and securing any loose items in the garden: “Prepare to protect your property and people from injury. Check for loose items outside your home and plan how you could secure them. Items include; bins, garden furniture, trampolines, tents, sheds, and fences.”
In its weather warning, the Met Office said Storm Amy will bring ‘very strong winds’ to the UK, with 44 areas currently included in its yellow weather warning.
It added: “Storm Amy is expected to bring a spell of very strong winds to many parts of northern Britain later on Friday and into Saturday. Westerly winds will pick up during Friday, initially in the west before extending eastwards during Friday night. Gusts of 50 to 60 mph are likely for many areas and may reach 60 to 70 mph in some places for a time. Exposed coasts and hills will see the highest gusts which could exceed 80 mph. The strongest winds currently look more likely over parts of northern Scotland. This will lead to difficult driving conditions for high sided vehicles on prone routes such as cross winds on exposed or high level routes.
“The very strong winds will also be accompanied by spells of heavy rain, most persistent across parts of western Scotland.
The winds will ease for most parts on Saturday afternoon but will continue to be very strong for the Northern Isles and parts of the far north of Scotland through to the end of the day before slowly easing overnight.”
