Met Office maps show yellow weather warning sweeping half of UK

Gusts of up to 80mph forecast for this weekend have prompted the Met Office to issue yellow weather warnings for wind.

Scotland and northern England are subject to weather warnings of Saturday, where gale force winds are expected to hit. On Sunday, the warning also stretches across Wales, Northern Ireland, the Midlands, western and southwest England.

The wind speeds are expected to cause chaos for commuters as millions head off for the big Christmas getaway. The AA recently said they expected it to be the busiest Christmas ever on Britain’s roads.

Saturday’s weather warnings is in place from 7am until 11.59pm, while Sunday’s warning is in place from midnight until 9pm.

Rain is also expected to fall over most of the weekend, adding further misery to commuters and people doing their last minute Christmas shopping on the final weekend before Christmas Day.

The Met Office said the strong winds could potentially “cause delays to public transport and some disruption to the road network, which may have a greater than usual impact given the busier pre-Christmas weekend travel”.

The warnings come ahead of what forecasters believe will be a mild and grey 25 December. Christmas Day is likely to be settled, cloudy and dry with light winds for most of the UK, the Met Office said.

There is a small chance of rain across north-west Scotland, though temperatures are expected to be widely mild, dashing any hopes of a white Christmas.

Dan Harris, of the Met Office, said: “Current indications are that more settled conditions are likely to develop from Christmas Eve onwards, with the majority of the UK coming under the influence of high pressure… Christmas Day itself is likely to be settled, often cloudy, and dry with light winds for the majority.

“Temperatures are expected to be widely mild, so if you are hoping for a blanket of snow across the country on Christmas Day, I’m sorry to say you will be disappointed.”

Yahoo breaks down what the weather will be like this weekend for each region of the UK.

London and the South East

Mild and windy with outbreaks of rain and drizzle on Saturday. Cold and windy with scattered showers overnight and lasting through Sunday.

East of England

Mild and windy with outbreaks of rain on Saturday. Cold and blustery with scattered showers overnight and lasting through Sunday.

South West

Rain and showers and blustery, particularly windy on Saturday with gales on the coast. Notably colder on Sunday.

Midlands

Mild and windy with some rain on Saturday in the East Midlands. Cold and blustery with winters showers on Sunday.

Rain showers in the West Midlands with blustery wind on Saturday. Colder on Sunday.

North East

Rain clearing on Saturday to leave a very windy, cold and blustery day with wintry showers. Continuing into Sunday but with less showers.

North West

Rain showers throughout the weekend. Particularly windy on Saturday. Coldest on Sunday.

Scotland

Very windy throughout the weekend with showers or longer spells of rain. Showery occasionally wintry on Saturday night.

Northern Ireland

Very windy with showers and rain, sometimes wintry, one Saturday and continuing across Sunday.

Wales

Rain showers across the weekend. Particularly windy on Saturday and colder on Sunday.