UK weather: Forecasters warn of 80mph winds as Storm Brendan sweeps Britain

Britain is set to be battered by winds of up to 80mph as Storm Brendan sweeps across the country on Monday.

Forecasters from the Met Office warned that coastal communities will be worst hit as large waves batter seafronts.

Northern Ireland, Scotland and much of the western half of the UK will see the worst of the high winds starting from 12pm on Monday to midnight.

Frank Saunders, of the Met Office, said the UK and Ireland will turn increasingly windy throughout Monday as the storm, named by Irish forecaster Met Eireann, sweeps in.

Strong winds and high tides batter the coastal road close to Newtownards, Northern Ireland, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2014. The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for rain, and flooding is expected in parts of Belfast and along the east coast of the country because of a tidal surge, combined with strong winds.  (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
Coastal communities will be worst hit. (PA)

He said: “It’s going to be windy across the western half of the UK, with gusts reaching 60-70mph along Irish Sea coastlines, the west of Scotland and perhaps some English Channel coasts – maybe even 80mph in a few exposed places.”

Mr Saunders added the severe conditions could cause travel disruption, and those in affected areas are advised to take extra care when driving on exposed routes such as bridges or high open roads.

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Looking further ahead to the rest of next week, he said: “It looks like it’s going to stay very unsettled with the potential for further disruptive weather in places.”

On Saturday, strong winds and heavy rain battered parts of Scotland, causing road closures and rail disruption.

The main A1 road from the English border up to the Edinburgh area was closed to high-sided vehicles for several hours.

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Warnings were in place from the Met Office from 4am until 6pm, covering Dumfries and Galloway, Stirlingshire and up towards the Highlands.

Large parts of the country were affected, with rail services at risk in a number of areas.

At around 1.30pm, ScotRail tweeted: “@NetworkRailSCOT are dealing with a signalling fault between Larbert and Croy, caused by heavy flooding of the railway.

“Services between Queen Street and Aberdeen, Alloa, Dundee, Edinburgh and Stirling may be cancelled delayed or revised.”

By 5pm, the firm added: “Water levels are beginning to subside, however, the track circuit failure still needs to be fixed.”

Replacement bus services were introduced – but roads were also affected by the conditions, with the A1 closed to high-sided vehicles for several hours.