91Èȱ¬

After a week where Arctic winds, snow and ice gripped the United Kingdom, Storm Bert is going to give us new weather hazards this weekend.

Named by Ireland's Met Éireann, the second named storm of the season will bring very strong winds, heavy rain and, for a time, snow and freezing rain.

A Met Office amber warning for snow and ice along with numerous yellow warnings for rain and wind have been issued for Saturday and Sunday.

Temperatures will also rise dramatically as much milder air spreads in.

Storm Bert will move in from the Atlantic during Saturday after undergoing explosive cyclogenesis.

This is when the central pressure of the storm drops more than 24mb in 24 hours and which meteorologists also use the term "weather bomb" to describe.

Winds will increase right across the UK through Saturday morning with gusts of 40-60mph (65-96km/h) expected quite widely across Scotland and parts of northern England.

A Met Office yellow warning for wind has been issued for these areas from 5am to 7pm on Saturday.

Locally around Irish Sea coasts, gusts will reach 70mph (113km/h).

These winds have the potential to cause damage and disruption to the transport network and buildings, and power cuts are also possible.

Heavy rain is also expected at times over the weekend which the Environment Agency says could lead to some localised flooding

Across south-west England and Wales, a Met Office yellow warning for rain says that throughout Saturday 50-75mm (2-3in) of rain could fall widely.

In some parts, such as south Wales and Dartmoor, there could be as much as 125mm (5in) which would be the whole of November's average rainfall in just a day.

Strong winds will continue at times well into Sunday and Monday as Storm Bert makes slow progress eastward across the UK.

While it will be the wind and rain causing some issues for many of us over the weekend, some may still experience winter hazards.

With very cold air across the UK this week, as Storm Bert brings rain in on Saturday it will be bumping into Arctic air, which could some significant snow in northern England and Scotland during the morning.

A more severe amber warning for snow and ice is valid from 7am to 5pm on Saturday in a small area in parts of central Scotland including areas of the Grampians and Highlands.

As much as 30-40cm (12-16in) of snow is possible on higher ground.

The Met Office also has also issued a yellow warning for snow and rain covering other parts of Scotland and northern England for Saturday with 5-10cm (2-4in) of snow even at low levels.

With strong winds also expected, there could be blizzard conditions on some of the higher routes.

There could also be some freezing rain for at time which is when rain falls onto frozen surfaces, freezes on contact and creates very icy conditions.

With temperatures rising, however, any snow or freezing rain should turn back to normal rain, which may in turn lead to some flooding.

Through this week temperatures have been around 1-7C, well below average for the time of year, and with a wind chill, it has felt freezing across many parts.

But, as Storm Bert moves in, the wind direction will switch from the cold northerlies to the milder south-westerlies.

On Saturday, therefore, temperatures in Wales, central and southern England will be up to 12 to 15C.

It will remain cooler in the north on Saturday at 2-7C before the milder weather spreads to all parts by Sunday.