Storm Gerrit to bring strong winds, rain and snow to Scotland

Storm Gerrit has been officially named by forecasters as strong winds accompanied with heavy rain and snow is set to sweep across parts of Scotland.

There are three separate yellow warnings in place, the first being for strong winds which begins at 0300 on Wednesday 27.

Gusts are likely to reach 50-60mph in southern parts of the warning area but could be as high as 70mph in some areas.

At 0600 a yellow warning for heavy rain and snow comes into force with 20-30mm falling in some places but could reach as much as 70mm in certain locations.

The Met Office says this could cause some disruption to travel with delays and cancellations, with the possibility of some upland rural communities becoming cut off.

Around 10-15cm of snow is likely to accumulate at higher elevations with the strong winds creating blizzard conditions on the highest routes.

There is also a small chance of injury from flying debris, as well as some damage to buildings.

Rain and snowfall is forecast to last until 2100 on Wednesday, with the strong winds dying down by midnight as they move north.

Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge said the storm was named as a warning to people coming home from the Christmas holidays.

He said: "Due to the extent of the warnings that are being issued, it was deemed that a named storm would be a good idea because it will highlight to the public the risk associated, particularly as tomorrow is likely to be quite a busy day on the roads with people travelling back home from Christmas and things like that."

He said wet and windy weather will cover most of the UK, with significant snowfall in parts of Scotland.

Affected areas include Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Argyll and Bute, Fife, Highlands, Moray, Perth and Kinross, Tayside and West Dunbartonshire.