Storm Austen to bring damaging winds and rain this week

Summarised from 4 outlets · Updated 20 Oct, 11:28 · Archive

Storm Austen, the first storm of the 2026/27 season, will bring severe gales and heavy rain to parts of the UK from Thursday night.

Storm Austen, the first storm of the 2026/27 season, will bring damaging winds and heavy rain to parts of the UK this week. The Met Office has issued a yellow wind warning for South Wales, south-west England and southern coastal counties of England, with gusts of up to 70 mph expected to cause damage to buildings, travel disruption and the risk of power cuts. Widespread gusts of 50 to 60 mph are also forecast.

The storm will bring severe gales and heavy rain from Thursday night. A Met Office yellow wind warning is set to be in force from midnight on Friday to noon. The strongest winds will ease from the south-west later on Friday morning, but conditions will remain blustery across England and Wales with periods of heavy rain throughout the day.

Scotland and Northern Ireland are expected to escape the worst of Storm Austen's impact. The storm will move into the North Sea later on Friday, making way for a brief period of clear skies before another area of low pressure arrives on Saturday.

This second system, whilst not expected to be as intense as Austen, will bring gusts of 70 to 80 mph to western Scotland, leading to likely delays or cancellations to ferry services and restrictions on bridges. It will also become windy elsewhere across the UK, with heavy rain spreading eastwards.

Sunday is expected to be drier, though very windy conditions are likely to persist in the north-east of Scotland.

How it is being reported

• Storm Austen to batter UK this week with heavy wind and rain - how it got its nameStorm Austen will batter parts of the country this week, with strong winds and heavy rain forecast.Gazette & Herald · 20 Oct, 10:58
• Storm Austen to batter UK this week with heavy wind and rain - how it got its nameStorm Austen will batter parts of the country this week, with strong winds and heavy rain forecast.Swindon Advertiser · 20 Oct, 10:58
• Storm Austen to batter UK this week with heavy wind and rain - how it got its nameStorm Austen will batter parts of the country this week, with strong winds and heavy rain forecast.This Is Wiltshire · 20 Oct, 10:58
• Storm Austen to batter UK this week with heavy wind and rain - how it got its nameStorm Austen will batter parts of the country this week, with strong winds and heavy rain forecast.Wiltshire Times · 20 Oct, 10:58

In this story: Met Office · South Wales · England · Scotland · Northern Ireland

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