Hold on tight! 80mph Storm Doris will batter Britain this morning
STORM Doris will be more severe and more widespread than initially feared, forecasters warned last night.
The worst storm of the winter will batter the country with 80mph gusts and snow today and the Met Office has extended its warnings to cover almost all of England and Wales.
An amber ‘be prepared’ warning is in place for an area stretching from North Wales across the North West, Yorkshire, the Midlands and into the northern edges of the home counties. A yellow ‘be aware’ warning of winds up to 60mph covers the area immediately to the south, including London and Brighton.
The violent gusts will be accompanied by rain in most places, and up to a foot of snow could fall on high ground in Northern England and Scotland.
Widespread snowfall of 10cm to 15cm is predicted on lower areas in Northern England, with Cumbria, North Yorkshire and Northumberland set to experience treacherous, blizzard-like conditions.
Storm Doris – the first named storm of
2017 – is expected to cause widespread damage to buildings, interruption to power supplies and extensive travel problems. The severe weather is set to last from 6am to 8pm, and the Met Office is warning of injury from flying debris such as tree branches and roof tiles.
Grahame Madge, from the Met Office, said: ‘Storm Doris is bringing a severe level of disruption to most of the UK.
‘We expect to see disruption to the transport network including felled trees and some restrictions on bridges and disruption to ferries. Structural damage and disruption to power supplies is also expected, and people will have to watch out for felled trees.’
He added: ‘There will be strong winds during both rush hours and we would advise commuters to plan ahead and give themselves longer for journeys.
‘Friday will be a much more benign day, but another belt of rain will make its way in on Saturday.’
The Ministry of Defence said: ‘Our Armed Forces are ready to support local authorities in responding to adverse weather.’
‘Watch out for felled trees’