Met Office weather warning explained as yellow and amber alert issued across UK today
The Met Office has issued two alerts for the UK today (August 4) with many of us set see heavy rain and strong winds amid the second storm of the year. The two alerts are yellow and amber, with the amber warning impacting Scotland, while the yellow alert affects most of the UK.
The storm, named Floris, is expected to batter Scotland with up to 85mph winds with the Met Office upgrading a previous yellow weather warning to amber. Strong winds as part of the yellow warning are predicted to hit Scotland until midnight with the more severe amber warning in force until 11pm.
But what do these warnings mean and should you be worried? Here is what you need to know about the weather this week.
What do the Met Office weather warning colours mean?
The Met Office issues weather warnings through the National Severe Weather Warning Service when the experts believe that severe weather is on its way and could potentially affect the UK. These warnings are assigned a colour - yellow, amber or red - and are based on the expected impact and likelihood of those impacts happening.
Yellow and amber warnings reflect different levels of impact and likelihood so it's essential to check each warning to understand what could happen in your area, and if you need to prepare.
These impacts can range from:
property damage
travel disruptions
travel cancellations
loss of water supplies
power outages
risk to life
What is a Met Office yellow weather warning?
The weather service explains that this warning can be issued for a number of reasons and often, it means low impact such as travel disruption. Whilst your day will likely not be impacted, there are other circumstances where this warning could mean more.
The Met Office explained: "Other yellow warnings are issued when the weather could bring much more severe impacts to the majority of people but the certainty of those impacts occurring is much lower. It is important to read the content of yellow warnings to determine which weather situation is being covered by the yellow warning."
What is a Met Office amber weather warning?
The Met Office explain: "There is an increased likelihood of impacts from severe weather, which could potentially disrupt your plans. This means there is the possibility of travel delays, road and rail closures, power cuts and the potential risk to life and property."
With this in mind, you need to ensure that if travelling, you take caution when doing so, warns the Met Office. They add: "You may want to consider the impact of the weather on your family and your community and whether there is anything you need to do ahead of the severe weather to minimise the impact."
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