Met Office issues yellow weather warning for Northumberland as Storm Pia approaches

The yellow weather warning is in effect for the period from midnight on Wednesday until 9pm on Thursday (December 21).

The Met Office says: ‘Overnight Wednesday into Thursday, strong west to northwesterly winds are likely to develop across a large swathe of the country.

‘Quite widely winds are expected to gust 45-55 mph, with stronger gusts, possibly reaching 65-70 mph, over and to the east of high ground, mainly across the north of the warning area.

‘However, the strongest winds are likely to be across the far north and northeast of Scotland, including the Northern Isles during the morning. Here, gusts of 70-80 mph are possible for a time.

‘The system has been named Storm Pia by the Danish Met Institute, as impacts are expected to be greater here. Winds will slowly moderate from the west Thursday evening.’

It warns of the potential for travel disruption, damage to buildings and power cuts.

The warning covers Scotland, north and eastern England, north Wales, the East Midlands and Northern Ireland.