Danger to life weather warning issued as Storm Amy set to unleash her wrath

Earlier this week the Met Office warned the remnants of hurricanes Humberto and Imelda could bring wet and windy weather to our shores this weekend, but at the time uncertainty remained over how far south and east the weather system would seriously impact.

However today (October 2) the Met Office have issued a Yellow Weather Warning for high winds to hit Sunderland, South Shields, Newcastle and the surrounding areas.

The warning is in place from 3pm on Friday until 11.59pm on Saturday.

A statement on the Met Office website said: “Storm Amy is likely lead to some disruption later on Friday and overnight into Saturday.

“Some damage to buildings, such as tiles blown from roofs, could happen and injuries and danger to life from flying debris are possible.

“Injuries and danger to life could occur from large waves and beach material being thrown onto sea fronts, coastal roads and properties.”

The spokesperson also warned of the potential for disruption to travel.

They said: “Power cuts may occur, with the potential to affect other services, such as mobile phone coverage.

“Some roads and bridges may close and road, rail, air and ferry services may be affected, with longer journey times and cancellations possible.”

The current forecast for Sunderland, Newcastle and South Shields shows rain arriving from around 6pm on Friday with windspeeds increasing throughout the night and into Saturday morning with gusts in excess of 40mph.

Whilst any rainfall will dissipate away, windspeeds are expected to peak early on Saturday afternoon with gusts in excess of 50mph possible between midday and 2pm.

Gusts are forecast to remain in excess of 40mph until 6pm before easing overnight and into Sunday morning.

Windspeeds will remain in excess of 30mph until around 4am on Sunday morning.

The Met Office yesterday (October 1) confirmed the weather system was named Storm Amy, the first named storm of the season.

Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist Tom Crabtree, said; “Although there is still some uncertainty about the exact track Storm Amy will take, the system will bring gale force winds across northern and western regions, with gusts widely reaching 50 to 60 miles per hour inland in northern Britain, and potentially reaching 70 to 80 miles per hour in places.

“With even stronger gusts on exposed coasts and hills, mainly in the northwest.

“Heavy rainfall is also expected, in particularly over western Scotland, where totals could exceed 30-50 mm in 6-9 hours, increasing the risk of localised flooding.”