Storm Ashley will hit Britain with strong winds and heavy rain this Sunday after undergoing explosive cyclogenesis in the Atlantic Ocean tomorrow night.
The storm, named by Ireland’s Met Éireann this morning, will strike with wind gusts of up to 80mph and could cause ‘injuries and danger to life from flying debris’.
The Met Office has issued a yellow warning from 3am on Sunday until 12pm on Monday for Scotland, Northern Ireland , North West England and North Wales.
Ashley, the first named storm of the 2024/25 season, will rapidly form tomorrow evening by explosive cyclogenesis – more commonly known as a ‘weather bomb’.
This is a low pressure system whose central pressure falls 24 millibars in 24 hours, and the storm could cause transport chaos, building damage and power cuts.
The Met Office also has a separate wind warning in place for western Scotland today from 7am until 3pm with 60mph gusts forecast in the most exposed locations.
In addition, a fog warning was in place for South East England from 4am until 9am this morning – with dense patches reducing visibility to under 100 yards at times.
As for Sunday’s warning, the Met Office said that ‘injuries and danger to life could occur from large waves and beach material being thrown onto sea fronts, coastal roads and properties’.
There could also be ‘some damage to buildings, such as tiles blown from roofs’; ‘some roads and bridges could close’; and mobile phone coverage could be lost.
Meteorologists said that initially a period of strong south to southeasterly winds will likely develop through Sunday morning.
Gusts of 50mph to 60mph are possible in some inland areas, especially Northern Ireland and western Scotland, and up to 60mph to 70mph along exposed coasts and hills.
Winds will then likely turn south-westerly, with a period of ‘especially strong winds possible’ during Sunday afternoon and evening in western Scotland.
There, gusts could reach 70mph to 80mph in exposed areas, and more generally 55mph to 65 mph in other parts of the warning area.
The warning added: ‘These strong winds in conjunction with high spring tides may cause some disruption.’
Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist Dan Holley said: ‘A low pressure system could bring strong winds to the north and west on Friday.
‘This combined with high spring tides may result in some coastal impacts, potentially continuing into the weekend on some coasts.
‘As we head into the weekend the weather will remain unsettled with further rain at times, and by Sunday there is a chance that a particularly deep area of low pressure arriving from the Atlantic could bring more widespread strong winds, especially in northern and western areas, with potential for some disruption in places.
‘This low pressure system is not expected to develop until Friday near the coast of Canada, so at this stage there is still a lot of uncertainty about the strength and track of this system as it interacts with the jet stream over the weekend.
‘We’ll keep reviewing the need for any warnings over the coming days, so it’s important to stay up to date with the latest forecast.’
Ashley is the first name on the alphabetical list for the latest storm name season, which began on September 1 and runs until August 31, 2025.
Storms can be named by the Met Office, Met Éireann or the Netherlands meteorological service (KNMI) if the impacts are deemed ‘medium’ or ‘high’.
