Forecasters have upgraded weather warnings ahead of Storm Hector, which could bring gusts in excess of 70mph to parts of the UK.
Much of Britain is covered by a yellow warning, but the north and west of Northern Ireland – which will see the first winds hit in the early hours of Thursday – is now subject to a more serious amber warning.
The Met Office said injuries and a danger to life is “likely” in coastal areas in Northern Ireland, with the chance of large waves and potential for beach debris to end up on roads, sea fronts and properties.
People have been advised to take care during rush hour with potential disruption due to fallen trees and the possibility that outdoor summer furniture will have been blown around overnight.
The storm, bringing wet as well as windy weather, will move across Scotland and the north of England throughout the morning, and the yellow warning remains in place until 3pm.
⚠️CAUTION HIGH WINDS WARNING ⚠️ for #ErskineBridge. Check @trafficscotland for live updates @RHANews @lomondtrossachs @WDCouncil @RenCouncilNews pic.twitter.com/vZy7a0wrxs
— Scotland TranServ (@ScotTranserv) June 14, 2018
Train disruption is already being experienced for commuters across the city, with ScotRail saying it is experience "severe" issues across several routes.
⚠️We are dealing with severe disruption on several routes at the moment as #StormHector makes his presence felt. Responding to as many Tweets as we can. https://t.co/gv0MwedF0k may be quicker for you for up to date info. ^CT
— ScotRail (@ScotRail) June 14, 2018
The Queen and the Duchess of Sussex’s first engagement together – opening Cheshire’s Mersey Gateway Bridge and the Storyhouse Theatre – may be hit by strong gusts, with winds of 60mph forecast for the north of England.
Such stormy weather is “quite unusual for this time of year” forecaster Luke Miall said.
“The worst of the weather is going to be in the morning rush hour for most people,” he said.
“The storm is likely to clear to the north east around lunchtime or just after 1pm.”
Southern England and Wales are likely to escape the worst of the windy weather, he added.
📽️ Video footage from the sea wall at #Saltcoats. You can see that this has damaged and brought down the overhead lines which is going to take time to fix once it’s safe for @NetworkRailScot engineers to begin work. High tide due around 1200 today. ^CT pic.twitter.com/7hpkp3W69W
— ScotRail (@ScotRail) June 14, 2018
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