‘Danger to life’: Amber weather warning issued for parts of UK as Storm Eowyn approaches

An amber wind alert has been issued for some areas of the UK on Friday, with the Met Office warning there could be “a danger to life” due to flying debris.

Parts of northern England and Scotland are expected to be affected by Storm Eowyn from 6am through to 9pm on Friday.

Gusts could top 60-70mph fairly widely, but reach 80-90mph along more exposed coasts and hills.

The powerful storm is expected to bring “very strong winds and widespread disruption” according to the Met Office.

There are separate yellow warnings for wind, rain and snow covering various parts of the UK on Friday, with a yellow warning for wind in Scotland continuing until 3pm on Saturday.

Meanwhile a rare, red warning has been issued by Ireland’s weather service ahead of the arrival of Storm Eowyn, threatening to bring “severe, damaging and destructive gusts”.

Gale force southerly winds “of up to 130kmh [80mph] widely, with even higher gusts for a time” could be expected, according to Met Eireann.

Ireland’s weather forecasters have set a wind warning to “status red” for counties in Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick between 3am and 10am on Friday.

A red warning is only issued for “rare and very dangerous weather conditions”, according to the forecaster.

An “status orange” warning, which is the same level as “amber” in the UK, applies to all of Ireland’s counties between 2am and 5pm on Friday.

Potential impacts include fallen trees, power outages, dangerous waves on the coast, structural damage and travel disruption.

Met Eireann said it will start to become “very stormy” on Thursday night, before the centre of Storm Eowyn tracks just off the northwest coast on Friday morning.

This will be followed by a “swathe of extremely strong and damaging winds extending across the country bringing disruption”.

Sky News weather producer Chris England said: “It’s looking increasingly likely that Storm Eowyn will bring potentially damaging gusts of over 80mph for Ireland and parts of northern and western Britain, mainly coasts and hills.

“Gusts of 60mph can be expected almost anywhere,” he added.

A yellow warning for fog had been issued for Wednesday morning covering Northern Ireland and area of England between Birmingham and Carlise.