Weather warnings upgraded ahead of Storm Doris

Weather warnings have been upgraded ahead of Storm Doris' arrival, with heavy snow and winds of up to 80mph forecast.

Storm Doris is likely to cause travel disruption, damage buildings and send debris flying when it hits on Thursday morning, the Met Office has warned.

Meanwhile, up to 15cm of snow could fall across parts of Scotland and north-east England in treacherous, blizzard-like conditions

The Met Office's amber weather warning alerts people that "whilst the strongest winds look to be only short-lived, damage to structures, interruptions to power supplies and widespread disruption to travel networks are likely, with a danger of injury from flying debris''. It is strengthening as it moves eastwards to the UK.''

We have got a fairly active area of low pressure coming in from the Atlantic,'' said Met Office forecaster Emma Sharples.

Storm Doris is expected to move on quickly, with the worst of the weather gone by Thursday evening.

While further Atlantic gusts will bring more rain and wind through the weekend and into next week, they are not expected to reach the heights of Doris.

AA spokesman John Snowling said: "The unpleasant combination of torrential rain, severe gales and heavy snow will create some very poor driving conditions, with the potential for roads to be affected by black ice, debris or standing water.

Storms with the potential to cause substantial impact are named by the Met Office and Met Eireann, moving through the alphabet." Expect travel disruption as some roads will be treacherous. "Wind can also bring down tree branches, blow you off course or blow other vehicles into your path.

The first was named Abigail in November 2015, after members of the public suggested monikers for the "name our storms'' project.

Forecasters are now in their second run through the alphabet. After Doris, Britons can expect to hear of Ewan, Fleur and Gabriel.

Storm Doris's appearance contrasts with Monday's temperatures, where visitors to Kew Gardens, west London, enjoyed the warmest day of the winter so far, at 18.3C (64.9F).

Parts of London and the south of England had temperatures warmer than Ibiza, southern Spain and Menorca.