UK weather: Storm Ali to hit UK and Ireland with 85mph winds

Storm Ali is set to pummel much of the North and West tomorrow, bringing the threat of damaging 85mph gusts and travel disruption.

We are only just getting rid of the remnants of tropical storm Helene, which brought gusty winds but also an unusually warm start to the week.

Winds have reached around 60mph along exposed coasts of the South West and Wales this morning and it has been a noticeably warm start, with temperatures of around 19 or 20C.

:: Do you share a name with a storm?

Helene has weakened considerably though and for most places today it will become fine and warm again, although remaining on the windy side.

Showers will gather across from the West later, bringing some heavy downpours, but these will be swamped by the oncoming Storm Ali as it feeds rain in across Ireland and into western Scotland by the early hours tomorrow.

What can we expect on Wednesday from Storm Ali?

The Met Office has issued an amber severe weather warning for wind.

While much of the South will be windy with plenty of dry weather, broken by some heavy showers, northern areas will bear the brunt of the storm.

The centre is likely to crash into Mayo and Donegal before steering across northwest Scotland.

Peak gusts will be just to the south of that across much of Northern Ireland, Scotland, northern England and North Wales.

Winds are set to reach 75 to 85mph during the day.

Impacts include:

:: Road, rail, air and ferry services may be affected, with longer journey times and cancellations possible

:: Some damage to buildings is possible, such as tiles blown from roofs. Falling trees or branches are possible

:: Power cuts may occur, with the potential to affect other services, such as mobile phone coverage

:: Injuries and danger to life from flying debris

:: Some roads and bridges may close

The weather does not look like settling down for a while yet with a series of Atlantic depressions set to sweep across the country.

Thursday's depression is more likely to be a rain-maker with the potential for some local flooding, and another deep low is due over the weekend.

Storm Ali is the first non-Anglo-Irish name for a storm.

Names are suggested by the public and are chosen by Met Eireann and the Met Office.

Last year, the Met Office says it received around 10,000 name suggestions.