The UK is set to be hit by the most intense storm in seven years, with winds up to 80mph as the Met Office issues a "danger to life" warning this weekend.

Ciara - the third named storm of the season - will "barge her way through" the country, say forecasters.

And there will be "impacts across the whole of the UK" between 6pm on Saturday and midnight on Sunday.

Gusts of up to 50-60mph are expected this weekend - rising to 80mph along coastal areas.

And on Monday and Tuesday, up to four inches of snow is expected in parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland, with blizzard conditions forecast.


⚠️⚠️⚠️ #StormCiara is likely to bring disruption across parts of the UK on Sunday ⚠️⚠️⚠️



Here is the weekend forecast ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/r9UdnBEpdj — Met Office (@metoffice) February 7, 2020

The Met Office has issued an amber warning for southeast England on Sunday, saying "widespread gales" could cause damage to homes and businesses, travel disruption and power cuts, and pose a "danger to life".

Sky News weather producer Chris England said: "There is already an amber wind warning for SE England on Sunday, and yellow warnings elsewhere for wind and rain, which may get upgraded to amber later.

"It is quite likely Ciara will be the most intense storm since 2013, and will almost certainly cause some travel disruption and damage to trees and properties.

"Some coastal flooding is possible too, as the strong winds combine with a spring tide."

He added: "Over the weekend, it will turn colder, with heavy, squally and increasingly wintry showers moving into the north and west.

"There'll be some snow to quite low levels in the north, while between two and four inches (5-10cm) are likely over northwestern hills, mainly over about 300m.

"With winds still gusting to over 50mph, there'll be blizzard conditions at times and drifting of lying snow."

Met Office meteorologist Grahame Madge described the weather front as "Ciara rather rudely barging her way through", taking conditions from "rather benign" to "very unsettled".

He said: "There's the potential for 80mph gusts in exposed locations across parts of the UK."

And he warned of the risks of "coastal flooding, large winds across sea fronts" as well as possible bridge and road closures.

Named on Wednesday, the low-pressure system is currently developing in the North Atlantic and is expected to hit and move across the UK on Saturday into Sunday.

On Saturday, strong winds are expected for Northern Ireland, Scotland and the north of England, which could cause some travel delays on roads, railways and affect ferry services.

Heavy rain is forecast for the whole of the UK on Sunday, with flooding likely, and spray on roads could make journeys longer.

The north will bear the brunt of the bad weather, with a warning that strong winds could cause danger to life from flying debris, such as tiles blown from roofs.

Image: There are a number of warnings in force for this weekend

Forecasters have issued a warning for rain and snow for Northern Ireland and Scotland between midnight on Monday and midday on Tuesday.

Storm Ciara follows Storm Atiyah, which hit between 8-9 December, and Storm Brendan, which brought wind and rain to the country in mid-January.

In October 2013, the St Jude storm battered southern areas, uprooting trees, shutting down bridges and rail services and grounding flights. Several people were killed by falling trees in separate incidents.

Just weeks later, a powerful Atlantic storm killed two people and threatened the east coast of England with the worst flooding seen in 60 years.