The Met Office has issued amber 'be prepared' Severe weather warnings for wind for the Northern Isles, western and southern Scotland, the far north of England and Northern Ireland.

The Met Office has put a yellow warning in place across the south west as a band of wind and rain moves across the county.

West to southwesterly gales are expected to develop during the early hours of Friday with gusts of 60-70 mph widely, possibly reaching 80 mph over exposed coasts and over and to the lee of high ground. People should be prepared for the likelihood of difficult driving conditions and disruption to travel. Some structural damage is also possible, as well as disruption to power supplies.

Over the Northern Isles storm force winds are likely to develop with gusts of 70-80 mph and they may occasionally reach 9 0mph. People should be prepared for dangerous conditions including structural damage and debris, disruption to power supplies and widespread disruption to transport.

In addition to the strong winds, large waves are also expected around western coasts. Heavy rain and surface water will provide additional hazards as an active cold front brings squally conditions for a time as it moves eastwards through the morning.

The winds should ease off later on Friday, with a brief colder spell setting in across Scotland bringing snow showers to low levels. With winds strengthening for a time again overnight there is the risk of blizzard conditions, particularly over higher ground in the north of Scotland.

Chief Operational Meteorologist, Paul Gundersen said: "A rapidly deepening area of low pressure is expected to bring a spell of severe weather across northern Britain on Friday.

"There remains some uncertainty over the exact track and intensity of the storm, so people are urged to keep up to date with the latest UK forecast and Severe weather warnings so that they can prepare for the weather. However, there is higher confidence now in the likelihood of a period of very strong winds early on Friday with a spell of storm force winds across the Northern Isles."

Looking ahead, the very changeable weather will continue through the weekend and into next week with further rain, snow and winds likely to bring a chance of disruption at times.

Further spells of heavy rain are expected to develop across the SW during Friday evening, persisting overnight, before clearing away to the south during Saturday morning.

The heaviest and most prolonged spells of rain are likely to be over high ground.

There is a warning of localised flooding and disruption to travel.

The rain and wind is due to a slow moving cold front moving across the region during Friday evening and night.

Around 10-20 mm of rain is expected to fall quite widely, with 40 mm possible.