Preston can expect wind speeds to peak just before midday after a wet start on Friday, according to the latest forecast from the Met Office.
Storm Éowyn is due to hit Preston, and the wider North West area, on Friday (24 January) and the area is under a rare Met Office amber weather warning for wind as a result.
Rail operators have advised that people avoid travelling where possible on Friday.
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The latest forecast for Friday says that winds speeds will reach the 51mph mark at around 3am and stay about that level until 7pm.
By 6am, when the weather warning begins, the wind will be at around 55mph. By 9am, it will be 60mph and it will peak at 68mph between 11am and midday.
From that point, the wind should ease off steadily, though it won’t drop to 40mph until 10pm and the weather warning won’t lift until 7pm.
Temperatures in the day are expected to sit around 6C but the wind will mean that it feels like 0C or -1C for most of the day.
Rain is expected to start at 1am on Friday and ease by the time people start to wake up at 5-6am. From that point it will be dry for the rest of the day.
Mike Silverstone, deputy chief meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “Storm Éowyn is expected to bring very strong winds and widespread disruption on Friday. There are currently a number of weather warnings in place, with all parts of the UK covered by one warning at some point on Friday.
“Storm Éowyn is expected to cross Northern Ireland early on Friday morning. It will then continue northeast across the northern half of Scotland during Friday afternoon and is expected to be centred near Shetland during Friday evening.
“The strongest wind gusts are likely to be felt across parts of Northern Ireland, southern and central Scotland, northern England and northwest Wales, where exposed sites could get gusts in excess of 80mph, possibly 90mph, which has the potential to cause impacts for those in these areas. The focus for the highest winds shifts to Scotland on Friday night into Saturday.
“An Amber weather warning for wind has been issued and covers Northern Ireland, parts of Scotland and northern England for most of the day on Friday before winds gradually ease later in the day.”
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