This large area of low pressure will bring strong winds and some heavy rain to much of the UK and red, amber and yellow National Severe Weather Warnings have been issued.

A large yellow wind warning covering the UK, away from central and northern Scotland, is in place from 3pm today to 6am on Sunday, together with yellow rain warnings for Northern Ireland, northern England and southern Scotland. An amber rain warning for parts of Wales is also in force for a time tomorrow. There is also a risk of snow on the northern flank of this storm and a snow warning for parts of Scotland overnight has been issued.

Met Office Chief Forecaster, Jason Kelly, said: “The worst impacts from Storm Darragh will be felt as we go through the early hours of tomorrow morning and throughout Saturday with, in addition to the broad yellow warning, red and amber wind warnings in place from 1 am tomorrow. In the red warning area, we could see wind gusts of up to 90 miles per hour along the coasts of west and south Wales as well as funnelling through the Bristol Channel, with some very large waves on exposed beaches.

“Although there is a lower likelihood of impacts outside of the red and amber warning areas this doesn’t mean you won’t see them. We are likely to see impacts across the whole of the country and people should keep an eye on the latest forecast details and prepare for the bad weather, especially if planning to be out and about on Saturday. Some areas are likely to have a relatively quiet start to Saturday, weather-wise, but winds will quickly increase from the west through the day”

For the latest weather situation please stay up to date with the National Severe Weather Warnings. 

Driving safety

Dale Hipkiss, Duty Manager at National Highways, said: “If you're planning to drive over the next few days, prepare in advance for the journey and take extra care on the roads. If weather conditions become challenging, adjust your driving behaviour to manage the conditions as safely as possible. It’s also a good idea for drivers to check their vehicles, such as tyres, coolant and oil levels, before heading out to reduce the risk of breakdowns.” 

Further ahead

Colder northly winds will move across the UK behind Storm Darragh bringing a risk of overnight frosts and the chance of some wintry showers mostly over high ground on Sunday.

As we go through Monday high pressure becomes centred over the UK and conditions become much more settled with an increasing risk of overnight frost and fog, especially in northern parts of the UK.

You can find the latest forecast on our website, on YouTube, by following us on X and Facebook, as well as on our mobile app which is available for iPhone from the App store and for Android from the Google Play store.

In Europe, the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands work together as the western storm naming group and storm names are compiled jointly between Met Éireann, the Met Office and KNMI (The Dutch national weather forecasting service). Find out more about naming storms in the UK.

A wave hitting coastal defences in a storm