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Parts of the UK are set to be battered by heavy rain and winds of up to 70mph this weekend as Storm Kathleen tears across the country.
A danger to life yellow wind warning is currently in force as strong gusty winds will hit western areas of the UK through Saturday.
Met Office meteorologist Greg Dewhurst said: “Winds pick up further through Friday evening, overnight into Saturday. In western parts of the UK, inland, we could see gusts of 40 to 50mph and then around the western coast of the UK we could see gusts of sort of 60-70mph.”
But for the eastern side of the UK, this weekend will bring some “unseasonably warm air” thanks to winds coming from the south.
“When combined with sunny spells in East Anglia we could see temperatures reaching 21°C or 22°C for a time on Saturday.
“These temperatures are well above average for the time of year and the highest we’ve seen in the UK since last October,” Met Office chief meteorologist, Dan Suri, said.
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UK set to have hottest day of year so far – as Storm Kathleen tears towards Britain with danger-to-life winds
The Met Office said temperatures on Saturday could reach up to 22C in East Anglia, but issued a yellow warning elsewhere for gusts of up to 70mph.
Road, rail, air and ferry travel could all be disrupted as Storm Kathleen rolls in, forecasters said.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain6 April 2024 08:49
Mercury could hit 21C
Temperatures could rise as high as 21C on Saturday in Norfolk, the Met Office predicts.
Jane Dalton6 April 2024 07:00
Storm Kathleen is coming and Lilian won’t be far behind
No storm season has ever got beyond the letter K. But this is the second time in a UK storm season that the letter K has been reached in the alphabet:
Jane Dalton6 April 2024 05:30
February was wettest in 258 years
The weekend storm comes after the Met Office’s preliminary figures showed February was the wettest in over two-and-a-half centuries:
Jane Dalton6 April 2024 03:55
Storm to pass over Ireland and west of England
Met Office imagery shows Storm Kathleen off the west coast of Spain heading towards the British Isles and passing over the island of Ireland and western England before pushing away towards Greenland.
Jane Dalton6 April 2024 01:55
Greenhouse gases hit new highs last year
Levels of criticial heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere reached historic highs last year, growing at near-record fast paces, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Carbon dioxide, the most important and abundant of the greenhouse gases caused by humans, rose by the third-highest total in 65 years of record-keeping, the experts announced.
Scientists are also worried about the rapid rise in atmospheric levels of methane, a shorter-lived but more potent heat-trapping gas. Both jumped 5.5% over the past decade.
The 2.8 parts-per-million increase in carbon dioxide airborne levels from January to December was not as high as the jumps were in 2014 and 2015, but they were larger than every other year since 1959, when precise records started.
Carbon dioxide’s average level for last year was 419.3 parts per million, up 50% on pre-industrial times.
Jane Dalton5 April 2024 20:30
Storm fast approaching
Jane Dalton5 April 2024 19:15
High winds will drag down effect of warm weather
The strong winds tomorrow will reduce the impact of the high temperatures, forecasters say.
“Parts of western Europe will see temperatures around 10°C above average and some of this exceptionally warm air for early April will surge northwards thanks to #StormKathleen. However, when you factor in the strong winds, it will feel several degrees colder than these temperatures suggest,” the Met Office said.
Jane Dalton5 April 2024 18:30