Northern Ireland weather alerts ahead of Storms Dudley and Eunice

Winds of up to 70mph are set to batter parts of Northern Ireland and the Met Office has issued an amber weather warning for Storm Dudley's arrival.

That is the first of two amber alerts for the this week.

The first alert will be in place from 6pm in Wednesday until Thursday evening.

The Met Office has warned the period of "very strong winds" may cause some travel disruption and potential damage from fallen trees and localised power cuts.

Storm Dudley is expected to affect the UK on Wednesday night and Thursday, bringing a period of very strong and disruptive winds.

A Met Office spokesperson said: “Very strong westerly winds are expected to develop across western Scotland and Northern Northern Ireland late Wednesday and extend eastward across southern Scotland and northern England during the evening.

“There is still some uncertainty in the timing and location of the strongest winds but there is the potential for inland wind gusts of 70-80mph in places. Gusts of 80-90mph are possible around exposed coasts and hills.”

As Storm Dudley winds down, another will arrive, forecasters have named it Storm Eunice, and it's predicted to hit the region at the end of the week.

“In addition to the wind, there is the potential for a period of snow and perhaps blizzard conditions, most likely over northern England, parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland and north Wales," a met office spokesperson explained.

"However, this is very dependent on the track of the weather system and most places will see heavy rain instead.”