Met Office issues yellow wind warning and urges households to stock torches and batteries

The Met Office has issued an 18-hour yellow wind warning covering almost all of Scotland, set to run from 3 am until 9 pm on Tuesday. Forecasters anticipate gusts of 50-60 mph across much of the region, with the far north and northwest, especially the Hebrides, potentially seeing winds exceeding 70 mph. Similar high winds are expected to affect western parts of England, Wales and northern Ireland, creating a heightened chance of power cuts.

In response, the agency urges families throughout the UK to gather torches, batteries, mobile phone power packs and other vital supplies to mitigate the impact of outages. Heavy rainfall is also predicted for Tuesday morning in Wales and the Midlands, and a number of schools, including some in Scotland, have been closed. Officials warn that the strong winds could damage roofs, uproot trees and disrupt mobile networks, and advise keeping fridges and freezers closed to preserve food during any outage.