Storm Ciaran: Where will it hit and when?

Storm Ciaran was officially named by the Met Office yesterday, and could become a potentially record-breaking deep area of low pressure at ITV Weather's Becky Mantin explains.

By Olivia Mustafa, Multimedia Producer

Just weeks after Storm Babet swept across the UK leaving flooding, power outages and travel disruption in its wake, the Met Office has announced another named storm will make landfall.

Storm Ciaran - a deep area of low pressure - was officially named by the Met Office, and is set to bring an exceptionally stormy period.

Heavy rain and strong winds will batter parts of the country today, but will it do as much damage as Storm Babet?

With several weather warnings already in place, here's everything you need to know.

What parts of the UK will be affected?

Most of us have heavy rain in store, but the southern region of the UK will experience the heaviest downpours.

Up to 25mm is likely to fall across the south of England and Wales, with as much as 60mm on higher ground.

According to the Met Office, gusts of up to 80mph could hit the south coast of England, with a chance of 90mph in exposed areas.

Further inland, winds associated with the storm could reach 50 or 60mph.

The wind will pick up on Wednesday and into Thursday across the Channel Islands, where they could range from 80 to 90mph at their worst.

The region has also been warned that cross channel ferries could be especially disrupted.

When will Storm Ciaran make landfall, and how long will it last?

Much of the UK will experience an unsettled forecast across this week.

Storm Ciaran will touch down on Wednesday night into Thursday, but a number of severe weather warnings will come into effect in the lead-up to its arrival.

What weather warnings are in place?

Yellow and amber warnings for rain were in place across Northern Ireland until 9am on Wednesday.

As Ciaran rolls in this evening, a yellow warning for rain will come into place for swathes of southern England and Wales.

A yellow warning for very strong and potentially damaging winds begins at midnight into Thursday in this same region, and will remain until 6pm.

How could the storm impact affected areas?

According to the Met Office, Storm Ciaran's heavy rains and strong gales are likely to bring disruption.

Forecasters have said there is a 'slight chance' gale-force winds could damage buildings and bring down power lines.

The Met Office has also warned flying debris in the south of England and Wales, and large waves in coastal areas, could cause a danger to life.

Heavy rain could lead to public transport disruption and flooding, with possible fast-flowing floodwater posing a danger to life.

How is Storm Ciaran different to Storm Babet?

Storm Ciaran will likely see less rainfall than Babet, yet stronger winds but the heavy rain in the wake of Storm Babet has saturated the ground with rain.

This means there will be a particular risk of flooding in areas still struggling to clean up from heavy downpours from the past week, which could make fallen trees more likely.

Storm Ciaran, like other storms, is a weather system made up of a deep area of low pressure - but it could be record-breaking.

The lowest atmospheric pressure on record in the UK in November was 948.4hPa (measured using a unit called 'hectopascals') in 1954.

The centre of Storm Ciaran could top this, reaching a possible 949hPa.

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