Falkirk weather: Warning of disruption as Storm Otto brings strong winds on Friday

The Met Office warning comes into force locally at 3am on Friday, February 17 and lasts for 12 hours until 3pm.

The winds are expected to pick up late on Thursday night and into the early hours of Friday when the yellow warning takes effect. Gusts locally are forecast to reach between 50 and 60mph.

Andy Page, Met Office Chief Meteorologist, said: “Storm Otto will bring high winds and rain to the UK, with some northern parts of Scotland and the northeast of England likely to get the strongest gusts of wind, possibly in excess of 75mph. Warnings have been issued and could be updated as Storm Otto develops.

“There’s a chance of travel disruption and high-sided vehicles could be particularly prone to disrupted plans in this set-up. There’s associated rain with Storm Otto, with 40-50 mm of rain likely to fall over parts of western Scotland.”

The Met Office advised the strong winds could cause widespread travel disruption, damage to buildings and infrastructure and large waves, especially on North Sea coasts.

Storm Otto is the first named storm of the season and meteorologists are expecting it to bring winds up to 80mph to parts of the UK. The storm has been named by the Danish Met Service and is the first storm to directly impact the UK during the storm naming season, which begins in September.