Overview

• Met Office amber wind warnings cover northwest Scotland and parts of Northern Ireland from Friday evening into Saturday, with wider yellow alerts for wind and rain across northern and western regions.
• Met Éireann issues Status Orange wind alerts for Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo from 2pm to 10pm, plus a Status Red marine warning from 2pm to 8pm for western and northern coasts.
• Forecasters expect gusts widely at 60–70mph, reaching up to about 95mph in exposed areas, with heavy rain raising risks of surface and river flooding in northern England and western Scotland.
• ScotRail will close multiple Highland routes from 6pm and apply network-wide speed restrictions from 7pm; the Caledonian Sleeper is cancelled, and CalMac warns of widespread ferry disruption including no Arran sailings on Saturday.
• Electricity network crews in Scotland and Ireland are on standby for outages, and authorities urge the public to avoid exposed coasts, secure loose items, check operator updates and expect disruption into Saturday before conditions ease for most areas.