The Met Office is warning of significant disruption from gale-force winds and heavy rain in much of Britain as the balmy start to the week is due to be blown away by Storm Doris.

Thursday has been nicknamed Doris Day, when the fourth named storm of the season is expected to damage buildings, interrupt power supplies and cause widespread travel problems.

The Met Office also warned there would be a threat of injury from flying debris. “Watch out for falling trees or tiles, secure garden furniture and move vehicles to a safe place,” it said.

⚠️Developing area of low pressure to move across the UK on Thursday, bringing gusts of 70 to 80 mph https://t.co/rNPERNpv1T #StormDoris⚠️ pic.twitter.com/K0Cu6Say7o — Met Office (@metoffice) February 21, 2017

An amber “be prepared” warning has been issued for a large band of the country stretching from northern Wales to Norfolk, where gusts of up to 80mph are forecast on Thursday, when Doris will surge in from the Atlantic.

The storm could even hit turnout in the byelections on Thursday. Copeland in Cumbria and Stoke-on-Trent Central fall within the band where heavy rain and 80mph winds are expected.

#StormDoris will bring some very strong winds for parts of the UK on Thursday. Here’s a look at where will see the strongest gusts pic.twitter.com/AzdQHqUCRw — Met Office (@metoffice) February 21, 2017

The additional hazards of heavy rain and snow have also been forecast for much of the rest of Britain, where a yellow “be aware” warning has been issued. Rainfall of up to 30mm (1.2in) is expected to cause localised flooding and tricky driving conditions. Snow is expected over the high ground of northern England and Scotland and could fall at lower levels in Scotland.

The exact timing and course of Storm Doris remains uncertain, the Met Office said, but it is forecasting gale-force winds late on Thursday morning. The warning added: “There is potential for a shortlived core of very strong winds to develop. Whilst some disruption is expected outside of this stronger swath of winds, the amber area looks most likely to see more significant disruption.”

#StormDoris is going to push in from the west on Thursday, bringing very strong winds, heavy rain as well as some snowfall in the north pic.twitter.com/ZxeYNjQxW0 — Met Office (@metoffice) February 21, 2017

Stormy conditions will be a marked contrast to the early signs of spring on Monday, when Kew Gardens, in south-west London, recorded a balmy 18.3C (64.94F) at 2pm.



Northolt, in north-west London, hit the same, beating the 17.8C recorded in the heart of the capital at St James’s Park. The highest temperatures in the south-east on Monday were not far behind the record for a February day, 19.7C recorded at the Greenwich Observatory in 1998.

Monday’s top temperatures exceeded Met Office predictions. Forecasters had described the weather as unusually mild, with overnight temperatures in the south sticking at 8C or 9C – a more typical daytime temperature for February – but had predicted only a slight chance that the temperature would rise above 17C anywhere.

Blossom has not been as early as some recent winters because much of January was bitterly cold and frosty.

The National Trust has completed its annual flower count in the south-west, with its gardeners counting the blooms out on Valentine’s Day. They noted an unusually high number of scented plants flowering early, but the total of 1,737 plants in flower is well down on last year, and barely more than half that of the record year of 2008 when 3,335 were recorded.