WEATHER experts last night warned people to stay away from coastal areas from today until Wednesday as severe weather brings the risk of high waves and flooding.
Forecasters at the Met Office, the UK's national weather service, have issued severe weather warnings for much of the country, with winds of up to 80mph expected across southern and western parts of Britain.
Coastal flooding is expected along the
length of the UK as spring tides coincide with what could be the strongest storm of the winter. A band of exceptionally low pressure is forecast to bring heavy rain and severe gales.
The unsettled weather is expected to climax tomorrow morning when the deepening low-pressure system swings east across the UK.
Brian Golding, head of forecasting at the Met Office, said: "The arrival of this exceptionally deep area of low pressure is expected to coincide with spring tides on Monday, bringing the risk of flooding to western coasts stretching from southern England to northern Scotland."
The storm also brings the risk of disruption to transport and power supply networks, with winds strong enough to uproot trees and damage buildings, according to forecasters.
But at this stage they are not predicting the weather to be as severe as the devastating storm of October 1987.
Stephen Davenport, a senior meteorologist at MeteoGroup, said: "This could well be the strongest storm of the winter."
Pressure in the centre of the low could fall to as little as 935 millibars in the west of Ireland. The lowest pressure yet recorded over the UK was 925.6 millibars at Ochtertyre, near Stirling, in Perthshire, in 1884.
However, the storm forecast for tomorrow was unlikely to be quite that deep when it crosses the country.
Winds gusting up to 70mph are forecast from early tomorrow as a band of squally rain crosses the UK. Those in exposed areas in the west and near the south coast have been warned to expect winds up to 80mph.
The high winds are expected to ease during the day but increase again in the evening, with fierce gusts after dark in the west and south of the UK.
The storm is forecast to develop out of a strong jetstream moving out of Canada and crossing the Atlantic and the UK during today and tomorrow.
Independent weather forecaster Tom Defty said: "The exact track of the storm is unlikely to be known until Sunday and the public should keep a close eye on the forecasts as severe damage is a possibility in many areas."
The full article contains 436 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
