Scotland to be battered by strong winds after weekend heatwave

Scotland is to be hit by strong winds as the remnants of a tropical storm move in.

Gusts of up to 45mph are expected in some parts of the country this week as the outlook becomes more unsettled following a spell of warm weather.

On Thursday and Friday, the remnants of a storm which has plagued southern Florida – Ex-Tropical Storm Alex – is forecast to bring strong wind and rain to the north-west of the UK from the Atlantic.

Storm Alex caused disruption across Florida, producing heavy rainfall over the weekend in several regions, including Miami, which reportedly experienced 5.24 inches of rain.

STV meteorologist Sean Batty said: “Scotland is in for unseasonably strong winds for June as the left-over of a tropical storm comes in from the Atlantic later this week.

“A tropical storm is a large system, just like a hurricane, but just not powerful enough to be called a hurricane.

“Remnants of storms like this do come our way from time to time but occurs more often in the autumn.

“Whilst this storm will be nothing compared to a winter one, it’ll still be very windy for June.”

The Hebrides is set to be hit with gusts of 45mph in the Hebrides and 40mph in the Northern Isles, and this is likely to cause some disruption to ferry timetables on Friday and Saturday.

In central Scotland winds may gust around 35-40mph on Saturday as the system passes to the north of the country.

Sean added: “As I say, these values are nothing like the 70-80mph gusts we get form winter storms, but it could still be impactful, especially as we move into the holiday season and tourism ramps up, and also with trees in full leaf now there’s more chance of small branches being broken off in winds like this.

“While the strong winds will ease through the weekend, the weather is likely to remain changeable into next week with further spells of breezy and wet weather.”