Britain has been told to batten down the hatches as the country braces itself for the arrival of Storm Ali which is expected to move across the UK on Wednesday
BRITAIN has been told to batten down the hatches as the country braces itself for the 85mph winds of Storm Ali.
The Met Office has issued a "danger to life" warning with gusts predicted to cause chaos across the UK.
News of Ali comes after Storm Helene's strong gusts knocked out power for communities, with 193 homes in Cornwall forced to call in engineers early this morning.
Forecasters have cancelled the yellow severe weather warning in place for Helene today - but worse conditions are expected tomorrow.
Met Office meteorologist Rachael West said: “Storm Ali is expected to move across UK during Wednesday with Northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland experiencing some heavy rain.
“But the greatest impact of the storm will be the strong winds which is why we have issued a yellow warning – with an amber later this morning for parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Two women brace themselves against strong winds as they take a walk in North Wales
“We could see winds of up to 85mph for the areas within that amber warning when we expect the storm to hit tomorrow morning.
“It’s going to be a very windy start to the day.”
“Weather like this is quite typical for this time of year because we do see areas of low pressure that become active and bring strong winds.”
While the weather warning for today has been downgraded, Britons have been informed that damage to buildings, power cuts, road closures and transport cancellations are still possible.
Meteorologist Dean Hall said parts of the UK felt gusts of about 30-40mph this morning, with wind speeds reaching 50mph in parts of Wales.
But Storm Helene, which was downgraded after initial warnings that it may pose a risk to life, is moving away towards the north east.
"We've got rain currently across Scotland, northern England, eastern parts of Northern Ireland, associated with what was Storm Helene," Mr Hall said.
Temperatures have remained mild with a fairly warm start to the day as temperatures reached 20C in some parts the country.
Unlike yesterday's bright and sunny conditions, showers will move in but these will be swamped by Storm Ali.
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