Storm Darragh: Rare red weather warning for wind

We've just seen the back of Storm Bert but now storm Darragh is approaching, with bad weather expected in Wales and south west England.

The Met Office - the national weather service - has issued a rare red warning for wind in those areas from early Saturday morning.

A red weather warning is the most serious kind of weather warning that the Met Office can issue and it means that the weather could be very dangerous.

There are also amber warnings for wind across Northern Ireland and west coast and yellow warnings for wind across much of the rest of the UK from Friday afternoon.

Storm Darragh is the fourth named storm of the year, after Ashley, Bert and Conall.

By Saturday morning, the winds will be stronger across western areas of the UK with a red warning in place across the majority of the Welsh coast and part of South West England's coast.

Gusts in these places are likely to reach over 90mph which could cause travel disruption, damage to buildings and power cuts.

Elsewhere on Saturday, Northern Ireland and the coastline on the West of England will see gusts of between 70 and 80mph with an amber warning in place.

There are over 100 flood alerts issued around the UK and eight flood warnings.

A flood alert means flooding is possible. A flood warning means flooding is expected.

Some parts of Scotland also have a yellow warning for snow on Saturday.

The weather warnings are currently still in place into Sunday but conditions should be much calmer towards the end of the weekend.

How are people preparing for Storm Darragh?

A person struggles with their umbrella as the wind picks up in Dublin's city centre. Storm Darragh is approaching the UK and Republic of Ireland

The Welsh Government's Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies said Welsh local authorities and emergency services are taking action to prepare for Storm Darragh.

He warned that there may be very significant impacts from the storm and asked people to take extreme care this weekend.

SP Energy Networks, a Scottish energy firm, said it was mobilising engineers to respond to power cuts "as quickly as possible".

Stena Line ferries said some services across the Irish Sea on Saturday would be cancelled.

National Rail said some train journeys in the south west would face disruption, and urged users to check their journey before setting off.

Bristol Airport warned passengers that "disruption is expected" and passengers should check with their airline before travelling.

Storm Darragh: Events cancelled

Several events have also been cancelled for this weekend, including the Enchanted Winter Garden at Antrim Castle in Northern Ireland, as well as Christmas events across England including in Shropshire, Cambridge and Cornwall.

In Wales, all domestic football and rugby matches scheduled for Saturday have been cancelled, including Cardiff City's Championship fixture against Watford which had been due to kick off at 15:00 GMT.

Adults planning to drive along the UK's west coast have been told to delay their journeys to avoid disruption or dangerous conditions.