Strong winds over 120kmh are expected to wreak havoc across the UK on Sunday with travel likely to be severely disrupted.
The Met Office has issued weather warnings for large parts of the country as Storm Ciara moves in.
Thousands are expected to be affected by flight cancellations and ferry crossing points are being closed due to stormy seas.
Virgin Atlantic was forced to cancel some flights and British Airways introduced “flexible rebooking options” for domestic and European journeys to and from some London airports.
It will be a very wet and windy start to #Sunday as #StormCiara starts to cross the UK. Several #WeatherWarnings are in force ⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️
— Met Office (@metoffice) February 8, 2020
Stay safe and keep #WeatherAware pic.twitter.com/PwgcNn1qlQ
“Storm Ciara will bring damaging winds and heavy rain across the UK this weekend and we have issued a range of severe weather warnings giving people time to prepare for potential impacts of the storm,” said the Met Office’s chief meteorologist, Frank Saunders.
“Winds will increase through Saturday across Northern Ireland, Scotland, northern England and Wales, before turning very windy across the rest of UK through the early hours of Sunday morning,” he said.
The Met Office warned power cuts were to be expected.
“This rough weather could making visiting our coasts around the UK and Ireland treacherous and bring very dangerous sea conditions,” said Guy Addington of the lifeboat service.
“Sadly, around 150 people accidentally lose their lives around UK and Irish waters each year and over half of these people didn’t plan on ever entering the water. Slips, trips and falls can be a major factor in these kinds of incidents.”
