Storm Doris: Flood alerts issued in Shropshire and Mid Wales as region braces for storm
A castle on the Shropshire/Wales border will be in anticipation of Storm Doris battering the region tomorrow, as flood alerts are also issued on some rivers.
Chirk Castle and its estate are closed ahead of the 80mph winds that are forecast as part of the storm.
The grounds have many ancient trees next to the paths and roadways across the estate which pose a danger of falling branches in high winds, castle staff say it is "an unacceptable risk" to visitors and walkers. The castle is expected to be open again as normal Friday.
Areas of Mid Wales and Oswestry are on flood alert as levels rise due to the rain today.
Storm Doris could bring "gusts of 70 to 80mph" and "danger of injury from flying debris" tomorrow.
The weather warning is in place up to 6pm.
Amber warnings predict strong winds and heavy rain in parts of North Wales, the Midlands, and east and north-west England, while winds as fast as 60mph are also expected to batter southern England. "We have got a fairly active area of low pressure coming in from the Atlantic," said Met Office forecaster Emma Sharples.
"It is strengthening as it moves eastwards to the UK."
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".
A weather warning for snow is also in place for Scotland, which could see blizzard-like conditions. Storm Doris is expected to move on quickly, with the worst of the weather gone by tonight.
While further Atlantic gusts will bring more rain and wind through the weekend and into next week, they are not expected to reach the strength of Doris.
Storm Doris's appearance contrasts with Monday's temperatures, when visitors to Kew Gardens, London, enjoyed the warmest day of the winter so far, at 18.3C (64.9F). Parts of southern England were warmer than Ibiza, southern Spain and Menorca.
Elsewhere there is currently an emergency road closure at the Clock Tower Roundabout in Telford due to a burst Severn Trent water main.
The road was closed to traffic travelling from Newport and also traffic heading onto School Road from the roundabout.
