Storm Gerrit named to bring strong winds and heavy rain

Storm Gerrit has been named by the Met Office, with several weather warnings in force from Wednesday.

Storm Gerrit will bring strong winds and heavy rain to many parts of the UK on Wednesday, with wintry hazards also likely, especially across northern Scotland.

A number of weather warnings have been issued by the Met Office, with the potential to be updated as details firm up.

Met Office Chief Meteorologist Frank Saunders said: “Storm Gerrit will run towards western UK on Wednesday and bring with it potential impacts for much of the UK.

“Winds across southern coastal areas of England will be strong, possibly peaking around 70 mph on exposed coastlines, but more widely around 50-60 mph within the warning area.

“Rain is an additional hazard from Storm Gerrit, with active weather fronts leading to a wet day for many.

“Snow is also likely to cause problems for some northern areas: only briefly for a few upland routes across the Pennines and southern Scotland overnight and early on Wednesday, but more widely to the north of the Central Lowlands later in the day.

“Here around 10 to possibly 20cm of snow may affect some of the highest routes, this combining with very strong winds to lead to some difficult travel conditions.

“At lower levels a combination of heavy rain and very strong winds will dominate.”

Met Office warnings highlight the possibility for transport disruption, power cuts and flooding in some areas so it’s important to stay up to date with the latest warnings.

Storm Gerrit will transition gradually to the northeast late on Wednesday and into Thursday.

Further unsettled weather is likely later in the week, with strong winds, rain and some upland snow.