Storm Gerrit: UK weather warnings urge people to beware of strong winds and heavy rain across the country

The UK is bracing itself for Storm Gerrit which is set to batter much of the country.

Multiple yellow weather warnings for strong winds, heavy rain and periods of snow have been issued by the Met Office for 27 and 28 December.

Wednesday is forecast to be the worst affected day, with strong winds due to hit a stretch of the south coast which could lead to transport disruption, with power cuts possible.

Heavy rain is also expected in Wales and across central and northwestern England which could lead to flooding.

Northern Ireland is also set for wind and rain, with a yellow warning for both issued between 2am and 10am on 27 December.

Only the central section of the UK does not have a weather warning in place, as the Met Office map shows below.

A yellow rain and snow warning is also in place from 6am to 9pm across much of Scotland on Wednesday.

Snow will briefly affect parts of the Pennines and Southern Uplands overnight and early tomorrow, though this will quickly turn to rain.

More persistent heavy snow will fall over the Scottish mountains north of the Central Belt and in the Shetland Isles.

Strong winds may lead to blizzards and a build-up of ice on power lines.

Wind warning areas can bring gusts of 50-60mph, with up to 70mph on high ground and exposed coasts.

The warnings for wind last until the early hours of Thursday morning in west Wales and northwest England.

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Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge said the storm was named as a warning to people coming home from the Christmas holidays.

He said: “Due to the extent of the warnings that are being issued, it was deemed that a named storm would be a good idea because it will highlight to the public the risk associated, particularly as tomorrow is likely to be quite a busy day on the roads with people travelling back home from Christmas.”

“In terms of rain, we have rain warnings out for the whole of Northern Ireland, western Wales, northwest England, and then there’s a combined sort of rain and snow warning for Scotland,” Mr Partridge said.