Storm set to blast Lancashire and the rest of the UK this weekend named by the Met Office

Storm Ciara is expected to bring winds of up to 80mph, with a yellow severe weather warning issued by the forecaster.

In place from 6pm from Saturday and all day Sunday, is warns of disruption that may affect some power supplies and transport services.

Neil Armstrong, chief forecaster at the Met Office, said: “An extremely strong jet stream flowing from North America will be steering a succession of low-pressure systems towards the UK at least into the middle of next week.

“The relative predictability of this pattern has provided an early warning and has given us the certainty to be able to name this storm four days ahead.”

The Met Office today said it was predicting heavy rain to fall in Blackpool on Saturday night, with winds blowing at around 41mph.

Rain will continue into the Sunday, the forecast added, with wind gusts peaking at around 3pm at around 62mph.

Next week should also be blustery, with the Met Office braced to issue further weather warnings.

Storm Ciara is the third named storm of the season, which started in September.