Gales of 80mph expected to hit Northern Ireland and southern Scotland on Sunday, after snow and heavy rain on Friday

Storm Dylan is set to disrupt new year celebrations across the country as the UK braces itself for more wet and windy weather. Forecasters have warned people living in Northern Ireland and southern Scotland to expect gales of 80mph.

On Friday heavy snow, rain, thunderstorms and wind caused disruption across large swaths of Britain. In the village of East Boldre, in Hampshire, one house sustained tornado-style damage, with most of the tiles from its roof blown out and scattered below. Winds of 70mph were recorded nearby.

“With thunderstorms and those sorts of systems you get rapidly rising and falling air,” said Grahame Madge, a spokesman for the Met Office. “So it could have been convection that caused the problem (and damage to the house) rather than it being a typical tornado.”

A yellow warning for wind has been issued for Northern Ireland and Scotland between 12am and 3pm on Sunday when Dylan is expected to make landfall. The Met Office said there was a small chance of damage to buildings, power cuts and interruptions to mobile phone coverage.

“Large waves and beach material being thrown on to coastal areas could also be a hazard,” the forecaster said. “There is a small chance of longer journey times or cancellations as road, rail, air and ferry services are affected, with the chance that some roads and bridges could close.”

Heavy downpours are predicted across much of south-east Wales and south-western, central and southern parts of England over the weekend.

The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for heavy rain from 6pm on Saturday to 9am on Sunday, and it said it was likely that at least 25mm of rain would fall, with up to 40mm possible in some parts. It warned that rising water levels were likely in these areas, with some flooding in places.

On Friday morning parts of northern England and Scotland were greeted by thick blankets of snow while the south coast was lashed by torrential downpours and lightning. Glasgow saw the biggest snowfall in the UK, with more than 10cm recorded in Bishopton.

Elsewhere, homes were left without power, flights were suspended at Stansted, Glasgow and other airports and motorists were caught in tailbacks of up to seven hours after road accidents.



On Boxing Day in County Mayo, west Ireland, two men died after their vehicle was carried downstream when they attempted to cross a river used locally as a shortcut.

Meanwhile, provisional Met Office statistics suggest 2017 has been the fifth warmest year on record. The mean UK temperature for the year is expected be 9.56C, which is 0.72C above the 1981-2010 longterm average.

Mark McCarthy, the manager of the Met Office’s National Climate Information Centre, said: “Although the year is likely to be the fifth warmest in the UK since 1910, many people will probably remember the year for some of its more notable weather events.

“Events like ex-hurricane Ophelia, which in October brought high winds and disruption to parts of Ireland and the UK, and memorably for some drew up dust from the Sahara and smoke from the wildfires in Iberia, giving us the appearance of sunset at midday.”