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18th December 2023
03:22pm GMT
The Met Office has issued weather warnings in the run-up to Christmas, with gusts of up to 80mph to be expected.
The forecaster has warned of travel disruption as a result of the severe conditions expected to hit.
A yellow warning has been issued for all of Scotland and Northern Ireland and the north of Wales. The northwest and northeast of England, the Midlands and part of East Anglia are also covered.
The weather caution begins in the early hours of Thursday morning and will last for 24 hours.
⚠️ Yellow weather warning issued ⚠️
— Met Office (@metoffice) December 18, 2023
Strong winds across central and northern areas of the UK
Thursday 0000 – 2359
Latest info 👉 https://t.co/QwDLMfRBfs
Stay #WeatherAware⚠️ pic.twitter.com/Z2OIi53HCd
Those in the affected areas have been told to expect a "small chance that injuries and danger to life could occur".
"Overnight Wednesday into Thursday, strong west to northwesterly winds are likely to develop across a large swathe of the country," the forecaster said.
"Quite widely winds are expected to peak with gusts reaching 50-60 mph, however in some locations, such as exposed coastlines, plus over and to the east of high ground there is a chance that gusts of 70-80 mph may be seen in some populated places."
The Met Office added that there is a "small chance that some roads and bridges could close," which sounds nightmarish for the thousands of people expected to be making trips to get away for Christmas.
