Will we see the first storm of the year this week?

A ‘major’ change to our weather is coming on Thursday, with the Met Office warning of heavy rain and gusts of up 80mph.

The freezing and weird weather currently hitting the United States is due to impact us too, which could potentially mean the first named storm of the season is on the way.

A large pool of freezing air over parts of North America is generating a big contrast in temperatures across the continent, which is strengthening the jet stream allowing deep low pressure systems to develop.

These lows will be steered across the Atlantic by the high winds of the jet stream – and the upshot of this is that it’s time to find your umbrella.

Here is what you need to know.

What will the weather be like this week?

Yellow warnings for high winds are in place from midnight on Friday until noon on Saturday, covering the north west of the UK including Northern Ireland.

Coastal areas will take a particular battering, with gusts of 70 to 80mph possible, but inland could still see gusts of 50 to 60mph, so people have been warned to secure their property and any loose items such as bins, garden furniture, trampolines, tents, sheds, and fences.

For the next couple of days, there will be gloomy weather in general, but Thursday will bring the most dramatic change as heavy rain moves in.

‘North Wales and Northwest England are expected to see the highest accumulations where 20-30mm could fall over the hills,’ forecasters said, while there could be some snow over the Scottish mountains.

The jet stream, powerful air currents around 30,000ft up, is intensifying and is due to quickly get even stronger in a phenomenon called ‘explosive cyclogenesis’ on Thursday.

This sounds pretty violent, and it will indeed prompt potentially the strongest winds of the year so far once they reach the UK.

Met Office meteorologist Chris Almond said: ‘A very deep area of low pressure will bring a very unsettled, potentially disruptive, spell of weather to the UK through Friday and into Saturday.

‘Winds will begin to strengthen on Thursday night with the peak gusts forecast through Friday in Northern Ireland and western Scotland. The wind will also be accompanied by heavy rain bringing some unpleasant conditions to end the week.

‘We have issued a Yellow weather warning for wind, and with several days before the impactful weather, the forecast details are likely to be fine-tuned during the week, so stay tuned to your local forecast and keep up to date with Met Office warnings.’

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