The storm – the first to be named this winter – has been labelled Otto by the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI) and will move east across the far north of the UK from the early hours of Friday morning, bringing gusts in excess of 75mph.

The Met Office has said the high winds will mean travel disruption and possible damage to buildings in places and warned the drivers of high-sided vehicles to be careful, with a weather warning in place from 3am on Friday until 3pm on Friday 17th.

There is also a danger of large waves on the North Sea coast “as well as a chance of some damage to buildings and infrastructure” with those needing to travel urged to plan ahead and proceed with caution.

A weather warning is in place for much of Scotland

The warning from The Met Office reads: “A spell of very strong winds is expected to affect Scotland during Friday morning, easing from the west during the afternoon. Gusts of 60-70 mph are likely, and possibly as high as 80 mph for exposed coasts and hills, particularly for the far north and northeast of mainland Scotland and Orkney.

Met Office Chief Meteorologist Andy Page said: “Storm Otto will bring high winds and rain to the UK, with some northern parts of Scotland and the north-east of England likely to get the strongest gusts of wind, possibly in excess of 75mph. Warnings have been issued and could be updated as Storm Otto develops.

“There’s a chance of travel disruption and high-sided vehicles could be particularly prone to disrupted plans in this set-up.

“There’s associated rain with Storm Otto, with 40-50mm of rain likely to fall over parts of western Scotland.”

Otto is the first named storm to directly impact the UK this storm-naming season, which began in September.

The first storm named by the Met Office, or the Irish and Dutch weather services this season will still be Storm Antoni, in accordance with the 2022/23 storm name list.

Storm Otto: Scotland's braced for 75mph winds as Met Office issue weather warning