Updated weather warnings ahead of an unsettled weekend

A deep area of low pressure will cross to the north of the UK on Saturday, bringing rain and potentially disruptive strong winds across large swathes of the UK. National Severe Weather Warnings for wind have been issued for both Saturday and Sunday highlighting the chance of disruption.

Met Office Chief Meteorologist Frank Saunders, said: “We have slightly tweaked our weather warnings as the peak winds have now shifted slightly north. The strongest winds are expected across the far north of Scotland on Saturday afternoon and evening, with the potential for gusts in excess of 80 mph in coastal districts including Orkney. Dangerous coastal conditions can be expected too, with large waves an additional hazard, especially in respect to causeways. This period of strong winds may lead to some transport disruption, including ferry delays or cancellations.

“Frequent blustery showers will also be a feature on Saturday and may merge into a longer spell of rain for a time in the far north and northwest. Those showers could turn to snow on the hills in the northwest of Scotland on Saturday evening, and then overnight and into Sunday. This chance of wintry showers extends to Northern Ireland, southern Scotland and northern England. Snow will be focused over hills, where several cm may fall, but some sleet, snow and hail may fall to quite low levels for a time, bringing possible icy conditions by Sunday morning.” 

Frank continued: “The strong winds will be more widespread on Sunday, with gusts of 50-60 mph expected quite widely. Around some exposed coasts and hills, gusts of 60 to 70 mph are possible, especially in the north and west.

“In addition, squally showers are likely with some hail and thunder possible in places. A Yellow National Severe Weather Warning is in place, covering a large swathe of the UK.”

This weekend’s wind and rain has the potential to cause delays to public transport and some disruption to the road network, which may have a greater than usual impact given the busier than normal pre-Christmas weekend travel. 

Douglas Cairns from Transport Scotland said: “The strong winds across Scotland this weekend are expected to have an impact on the transport network. Road, rail, air and ferry services are all likely to be affected by the conditions, with longer journey times and cancellations possible, as well as potential restrictions on bridges. The network is also expected to be busier than usual, given it’s the last weekend before Christmas.

“As always, we ask travellers to plan their journeys before setting off to ensure they reach their festive celebrations in good time. If you’re driving, make sure your vehicle is winter ready and follow any Police Scotland travel advice that may be in place. Traffic Scotland provides up-to-date travel information on the trunk road network through its website, X account and internet radio broadcasts.

“The same advice goes for other modes of transport – if you are planning to travel by rail, air or ferry, stay in contact with your operator for the latest service information.”

Turning exceptionally mild as we head towards Christmas Day

The winds will ease for the start of next week and there will be some brightness in the east on Monday, before cloud and rain move in. We’ll start to see a change in feel to the weather though, with the rain accompanied by an increase in temperatures.

This means the chances of seeing our favourite winter weather (revealed as ‘crisp blue skies’ and ‘snow on the ground’ in Met Office research earlier this year), are looking decidedly unlikely.  

Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist, Rebekah Hicks, said: “We’ll start to see high pressure to the south of the UK bringing in more settled and much milder conditions from Christmas Eve.

“Christmas Day itself will be cloudy for most, although some eastern areas of the UK, most likely eastern Scotland, may see some clear or sunny spells. We could see some drizzle across hills in the west, and some more persistent rain is possible for northwest Scotland but overall, it will be a fairy cloudy, nondescript day.

“Conditions on Christmas Day and Boxing Day look to be exceptionally mild for the time of year, especially in the north. East and northeast Scotland, for example, could see overnight temperatures that are 10°C above average on Christmas morning.”

We’ll be giving more details as we get closer to the day, so do keep up-to-date with the latest Met Office forecast.

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