A damaging storm system targeting the UK this weekend has officially become the first named storm of the season.
Storm Atiyah was declared by Met Eireann, in partnership with the Met Office, on Friday afternoon as damaging winds of up to 80 mph threaten to hammer the Irish coasts.
Atiyah is also expected to unleash damaging gales of up to 70mph in England and Wales beginning on Sunday afternoon as a deep area of low pressure crosses the UK.
As a result of the storm system, the Met Office has declared a yellow weather warning for wind beginning at 3pm and lasting until 9am on Monday.
Residents around the coast should prepare for delays to road, air, rail and ferry transport. Power cuts and short-term loss of other services are also possible, forecasters have said. You can read more about Atiyah's impacts to Wales here.
Why are storms named?
The criteria used to name storms is based on the National Severe Weather Warnings service.
It takes into account both the impact the weather may have, and the likelihood of those impacts occurring.
According to the Met Office, a storm will be named when it has the potential to cause an amber or red warning.
Storm Atiyah is the first named storm set to impact the the UK since Storm Hannah in April 2019, which left tens of thousands of people without power after high winds.
