At least one person has died and casualties are reported as Storm Doris strikes the UK.
ADVERTISEMENTA woman in Wolverhampton has died after being struck in the head by debris as Storm Doris batters Britain.
Ambulances have been called out to casualties across the UK.
In Stoke-on-Trent, another woman was left with a serious head injury and hospitalised after being hit by a carport roof.
On the west coast, the Port of Liverpool was closed due to strong winds.
View #StormDoris from space with this satellite image showing her moving eastwards across the UK pic.twitter.com/Oa3ELPaMBj
— Met Office (@metoffice) February 23, 2017
Gusts of up to 150 kmph in some areas have wreaked havoc on transport across the British Isles.
A number of flights and trains have been cancelled. Some rail companies are imposing speed restrictions of 80 kmph as a precaution.
#StormDoris Trains are being severely disrupted today with some companies advising no to travel. More here https://t.co/MMfE51ZaS0
— National Rail (@nationalrailenq) February 23, 2017
Meteorologists say the most violent gusts are caused by a ‘weather bomb’ – essentially an extremely intense area of low pressure which ‘explodes’ when travelling beneath a powerful jet stream.
While the main region still said to be at risk of gales is the region of East Anglia, in south-eastern England, the Met Office has issued amber weather warnings for ice across central and northern England, Northern Ireland and Scotland for the end of the week.