Updated Met Office weather warning for Monday's storm
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The Met Office has update its weather warning for the strong winds predicted overnight on Sunday into Monday as a major storm crosses the UK.
There will be a Amber alert in force in the East of England from 0.05am until 12 noon on Monday.
In the Anglia region, winds are expected to gust at 60-80 mph for a short while early on Monday morning which could affect the morning rush hour. The strongest winds will be preceded by heavy rain overnight on Sunday.
The Met Office described the storm as not one "you would see every year", and said the expected wind strengths would be similar to storms in March 2008, January 2007 and October 2000.
It has issued an amber warning, meaning ''be prepared'', for the southern half of England and the southern half of Wales.
This storm has been dubbed St Jude after the patron saint of lost causes whose feast day is marked on Monday. The storm didn't even exist on Friday only forming off the coast of Newfoundland early on Saturday.
It is developing as it crosses the Atlantic and interacts with the jet stream, a corridor of extremely strong winds high up in the atmosphere. The storm will still be in its development phase as the crosses the UK which adds to uncertainty of the exact forecast track and strength of the winds.
The Met Office says the storm is expected to bring gusts of 60-80 mph widely over the southern half of the UK with gusts of more than 80 mph possible in places - especially on exposed coasts.
Any major storm which occurs in early autumn has the potential to cause widespread severe disruption through falling trees, structural damage, transport disruption or power cuts and possibly flooding.
The strongest winds are expected to hit the southern and southeastern coast of the British Isles although the exact track to change slightly as the storm develops. The purple area of the map above indicates forecast winds gusts of 60-70 knots (69-81 mph) and the red area is gusts of 50-60 knots (58-69 mph).
The orange colour represents wind gusts of 45 to 60 mph and the yellow area is 35-45 mph.
The faint wind arrows indicate the expected wind direction and sustained wind speed in knots
Home insurers were bracing themselves for the prospect of a high number of storm damage claims.
The Local Government Association (LGA) said local authorities would divert staff from their normal duties to help out with emergency relief efforts if required.
They have found emergency accommodation should families be evacuated from their homes, and highways teams are on standby to rescue stranded motorists and clean debris from roads.
Councillor Mike Jones, chairman of the LGA's environment board, said: "Councils are preparing for the worst while hoping for the best. Local authorities up and down the country are preparing to divert staff from their normal duties and have placed additional employees on standby to work with fire crews and other emergency services to get people help if they need it."