Storm Amy: Met Office weather warnings dramatically extended to all of UK

The Met Office has extended weather warning to all areas of the UK across the next 36 hours, with Storm Amy expected to cause chaos as winds of up to 95mph hit Britain

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The whole of Britain has been told to brace for extreme weather over the next 36 hours, with a yellow weather warning for wind covering all of the UK for parts of Friday and Saturday.

Storm Amy has prompted weather warnings throughout the country for heavy rain and strong winds of up to 100mph on Friday and now "strong and gusty" winds will also be felt on Saturday. Yellow weather warnings for wind and rain were already in place for the majority of the midlands and north of England, as well as the whole of Ireland and Scotland.

Amber weather warnings for wind are in place for parts of Northern Ireland and western Scotland, with the Met Office warning of "damaging winds" which could reach 80mph in exposed areas. "[Winds] may reach 100mph in some exposed parts of western Scotland, particularly around Tiree, western Lochaber and Skye for a time this evening," the forecaster added.

The Met Office has now extended yellow weather warnings for wind to all areas of the UK on Saturday, with southern areas of England and Wales now expected to be hit with "strong and gusty winds". The Met Office said: "West to southwesterly winds will strengthen and become rather gusty on Saturday, with gusts of 45-55 mph possible in places, and perhaps 60-65 mph along some exposed coasts, especially in the west, and briefly over more exposed hills inland. Winds should then gradually ease later on Saturday."

Conditions in Northern Ireland are so bad a huge number of schools have been told to close early, while ferry sailings between Scotland and Northern Ireland have been cancelled and there are flood warnings in place for parts of Scotland, with disruption on roads and railways also expected.

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Schools across counties Antrim, Londonderry, Tyrone and Fermanagh have been told by the Education Authority in Northern Ireland to close at noon due to safety concerns. The north and west of Scotland will be worst hit by the storm on the British mainland, with a Met Office amber warning for “damaging winds” in place from 5pm on Friday until 9Pm on Saturday.

Those living in parts of the Highlands and Western Isles have been warned of a “danger to life” from flying debris, potential power cuts as well as road closures and damage to buildings. The Met Office warned of difficult driving conditions at the weekend, especially for high-sided vehicles on prone routes, such as crosswinds on exposed or high-level routes.

It went on: “Winds will ease for most parts through Saturday afternoon, but will continue to be very strong for the Northern Isles and parts of the far north of Scotland through to the end of Saturday, before slowly easing overnight.”