Power networks could struggle and travel plans face disruption when Storm Ciara “barges” into the UK with winds of up to 80mph this weekend.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for wind for the whole country on Saturday and Sunday, as the third named storm of the season approaches.

According to forecasters, there will be "impacts across the whole of the UK" between 6pm on Saturday and midnight on Sunday.

Met Office meteorologist Grahame Madge described the weather front as "Ciara rather rudely barging her way through", taking conditions from "rather benign" to "very unsettled".

He said: "There's the potential for 80mph gusts in exposed locations across parts of the UK."

And he warned of the risks of "coastal flooding, large winds across sea fronts" as well as possible bridge and road closures.

Mr Madge added: "We could also see some impact on networks, both phone and power."

After a calm start to February, conditions will start to change as the weekend approaches, with winds beginning to increase on Friday.

Mr Madge warned "there are some strong winds ahead of Ciara", and said that "through Saturday and Friday we're starting to see these winds strengthen."

But he said they are "not likely to reach their peak until the middle of the warning period", through Sunday.

Storm Ciara is the third named storm of the 2019-20 winter season, and follows Storm Atiyah, which hit on December 8-9, and Storm Brendan, which brought wind and rain to the country on January 13-14.