A weather bomb is set to 'explode' over the UK tomorrow with heavy snow and 70mph winds.
A rare red alert has been issued in the Republic of Ireland, while disruptive wind and some snow are expected to hit parts of northern England and Scotland, the Met Office said.
Power giants promised to get 1,600 homes still without electricity reconnected before it blew in from the Atlantic.
But experts warned electricity lines could again be felled by 'Storm Barra'.
A low-pressure system qualifies as a weather ‘bomb’ if its centre deepens by 24 millibars in 24 hours.
It is expected the one behind the latest extreme conditions will deepen even further than that before it lands on our shores.
Frank Saunders, Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “Gusts of 45-50 mph are expected widely, with 60-70 mph in exposed coastal locations.”
There could be 10cm of snow in the Scottish Highlands.
In Ireland, health officials warned people to expect disruptions to services – including Covid-19 testing and vaccination centres – while the Department of Education recommended all schools in areas covered by red and orange weather warnings should not open on Tuesday.
According the Irish Meteorological Service, Met Éireann, the red weather warning is a rare caution - used only under circumstances of “extremely dangerous/destructive” weather.
Irish PM Micheal Martin said Storm Barra would be “very, very serious” and advised people to “avoid the coast at all costs”.
The latest storm could not have come at a worst time for those who faced an 11th night with no heating - and 'no hope'.
Stewart Sexton, of Alnwick, Northumberland, said Northern Powergrid had promised their power would be restored within 24 hours every day since it was cut off on Nov 26 by the 98 mph winds of Storm Arwen.
"It's exhausting, it's wearing us down, and it's a constant worry. Every day seems to bring a new problem," he said. "We have not got any hope at all. It's awful, the futility of it."
Northern Powergrid has handed out survival packs of a small blanket, hot water bottle, mug, pair of socks, glove and hat - but "no logs, candles or batteries", he added.
Anna Elson, 49, also of Alnwick, headed for a relative's home with her son, 13, who also has rheumatoid arthritis, to avoid an 11th night without heating.
Locals had 'come together'. But she said: "We are fed up and angry at the lack of response."
The majority without power were in the north east of England where there are still 1,600 homes without electricity. Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said power had been restored to all 135,000 affected customers on Sunday.
The Irish weather service, Met Eireann, named “Storm Barra” as it hit their west coast at the week-end. Now it is heading our way.
“It is not good news,” said Dan Stroud, of the Met Office. “There is a low pressure out in the Atlantic. As it approaches, it deepens
explosively.
"It is going to bring in a wide band of rain, bumping into cold air over Scotland and turning readily to snow."
The first met Office yellow warning comes into force at 9am on Tuesday. The Energy Network Association said that operators were "working together" to prepare for the storm.
Elsewhere, a cabinet minister has come under fire for taking a trip to the US while hundreds of her constituents were still without power.
International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan has said there are “huge opportunities to deepen trading links" ahead of a three-day visit to the US.
Anne-Marie, MP for Berwick, flew out for America on Sunday and will use her first official stateside trip this week to New York and Washington to bolster 'transatlantic trade and investment'.
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But one of her constituents in storm-battered Northumberland claimed that she was more interested in 'climbing the greasy pole' for her career than looking after the people who voted for her.
Labour accused the Government of treating people in the North of England and Scotland as "second-class citizens" as they remained
without power 10 days after Storm Arwen.
Quoting a Tory Councillor, shadow climate change minister Ed Miliband said: "'If this happened in London or in the South East everything would have got thrown at it'.
"They are his words. Aren't people in the North entitled to think he is right? They have been treated as second-class citizens."
Mr Miliband also said lessons had not been learned from past storms, telling MPs the Tories had failed to identify "problems of communication, the vulnerability of the network, and the complacency of the companies."
The costs of paying for temporary accommodation will make for a very expensive Christmas, North West Durham MP Richard Holden said.
He added: "Many of them will have spent a huge amount of money, of their own cash, going into hotels or in other accommodation and on extra food."
Business minister Greg Hands admitted people who experienced a power cut during Storm Arwen may have to wait three months for compensation.
Anne Marie's office was approached for a comment.
