Storm Gertrude is set to hit the West Kirby and Hoylake coastline early tomorrow morning, bringing gales gusting at up to 60 mph and potential heavy rain.
The Met Office has issued a yellow alert for Wirral and much of the north west from 1am on Friday, and the journey to work or school tomorrow morning is likely to be windy and wild, so the advice is to take extra care.
The alert runs until 6pm tomorrow, although conditions are expected to ease during the afternoon.
The west to south-westerly gales are forecast for much of the north west of England and north Wales, with even more severe conditions in parts of northern Scotland. But the Met Office says the exact track of the storm is unpredictable and will be kept under review.
It comes just days after West Kirby promenade had to be closed to traffic for a time on Tuesday as Storm Jonas brought 40 mph winds to the area and saw parts of the road flooded from the marine lake at high tide.
“Very strong and gusty winds are likely to develop to the east of high ground during the early hours of Friday, whilst a very squally cold front could bring gusts of 70-80 mph very locally to some inland parts during the morning,” said a Met Office spokesman.
Storm Gertrude will be the seventh officially named storm to have hit Britain this winter, since the new naming system was launched by the Met Office to increase awareness of storm threats.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uE7l6UkPFM
See our report on Storm Jonas hitting West Kirby here.