Storm Austen to bring heavy wind and rain to UK

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 20 Oct, 18:02 · Archive

The first storm of the 2026/27 season will bring damaging winds and heavy rain from Thursday night, with gusts of up to 70 mph expected.

Storm Austen, the first storm of the 2026/07 season, will batter parts of the UK this week with strong winds and heavy rain. 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 across affected areas.

The storm will bring severe gales and heavy rain from Thursday night (October 22). A Met Office yellow wind warning is set to be in force from midnight on Friday (October 23) to noon. Although the strongest winds will ease from the south-west later on Friday morning, 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 (October 24). This second system will bring gusts of 70 to 80 mph to western Scotland, leading to likely delays or cancellations to ferry services and restrictions on bridges, with heavy rain spreading eastwards across the UK. 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.Oxford Mail · 20 Oct, 17:46
• 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.Oxfordshire Guardian · 20 Oct, 17:46

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

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