'Danger to life' warning as 80mph Storm Freya approaches Wales

3 March 2019, 09:24 | Updated: 3 March 2019, 09:27

Strong winds and travel disruption are expected as Storm Freya approaches the UK.

The storm is forecast to hit on Sunday afternoon and could even cause "injuries and danger to life" due to flying debris and large waves.

A yellow "be aware" warning for wind has been issued by the Met Office covering Wales and much of England, but excluding London and the South East.

This warning is in effect from 3pm today until 6am Monday.

It details the possibility of flying debris, especially in coastal areas, damage to buildings and trees, travel disruption, road and bridge closures and power cuts.

Sky News weather presenter Isobel Lang said Ireland, Wales and southwest England would also see heavy rain during Sunday, with the possibility of hill snow over high ground.

She added: "It will be fairly mild but feel rather unpleasant in the freshening wind and rain across the South West associated with Storm Freya.

"That wind will strengthen through the afternoon with potentially damaging gusts of 70 or 80mph around exposed coasts of Wales and southwest England and nearer to 50 to 60mph inland.

"The rain will spread as far north as Northern Ireland and the Scottish borders this evening as the strongest winds move inland over England and Wales."

Met Office forecaster Craig Snell said the South West would be the region to watch this afternoon as the storm arrived but that the strongest winds could be seen in other parts of the country.

He said: "Parts of Wales and the Irish Sea coast of northwest England is where we could see 70 to 80 miles an hour.

"The strongest winds will be limited to parts of western England and Wales, but the warning area includes parts of the Midlands and over towards Yorkshire and Lincolnshire as well.

"But they probably wont see the strongest winds until the very back-end of Sunday going into Monday morning."

The storm is expected to move into the North Sea later on Monday morning and the winds will die down significantly.

Temperatures are expected to reach between 8C (46F) and 12C (54F) in England and Wales on Sunday, while they will remain below 10C (50F) in Scotland.