Be ready for Brendan! Britain could be lashed with 100mph gusts on Tuesday in latest named storm after 83mph Atiyah helped smash wind power record

  • The Met Office has issued a yellow wind warning across much of England and Scotland for tomorrow 
  •  This is down to a second strong storm - unofficially dubbed Storm Brendan - which is due to hit tomorrow
  • Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge warned that weather is unlikely to improve further into the week
  • ** Have you taken any photographs of the windy weather today? Please email: pictures@mailonline.co.uk **

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'Storm Brendan' is set to hit Britain with 100mph winds potentially striking parts of the country on Tuesday.

This comes after the country was hit by Storm Atiyah today with 70mph winds and warnings of power cuts and transport delays.

The Met Office has issued a yellow wind warning across much of England and Scotland for tomorrow, with very strong gusts expected - potentially causing transport delays.

'Storm Brendan' is set to hit Britain with 100mph winds potentially striking parts of the country on Tuesday. Strong winds have already brought down this tree in Taunton, Somerset. The council tweeted a picture of the scene this morning

'Storm Brendan' is set to hit Britain with 100mph winds potentially striking parts of the country on Tuesday. Strong winds have already brought down this tree in Taunton, Somerset. The council tweeted a picture of the scene this morning

The Met Office has issued a yellow wind warning across much of England and Scotland for tomorrow, with very strong gusts expected - potentially causing transport delays

The Met Office has issued a yellow wind warning across much of England and Scotland for tomorrow, with very strong gusts expected - potentially causing transport delays

This is down to a second strong storm - unofficially dubbed Storm Brendan - which is due to hit tomorrow, with gusts potentially reaching 100mph. 

The Met Office has forecast England and Scotland will be 'windy across all areas' with severe gales possible in the North West. 

Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge warned that the weather is unlikely to improve further into the week.

He said: 'It will be a much more straight forward day on Wednesday, with sunshine and showers. It will be quite blustery. We could even see hail in places such as Devon and Cornwall. 

'Unfortunately, again Thursday is another wet and rather windy day across the whole of the UK.

'By the time we get to midday, apart from the north of Scotland, most places will see rain. And then that rain gradually moves eastwards but not really until quite late on Thursday night.

High winds brought down this tree at Hensol in the Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales, pictured this morning

High winds brought down this tree at Hensol in the Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales, pictured this morning

Waves crash against the pier wall at Seaham Lighthouse on the County Durham coast as warnings remain in place today

Waves crash against the pier wall at Seaham Lighthouse on the County Durham coast as warnings remain in place today

Snow is pictured covering Ben Wyvis in the Scottish Highlands today where conditions were cold and windy

Snow is pictured covering Ben Wyvis in the Scottish Highlands today where conditions were cold and windy 

This morning's weather
This afternoon's weather

Commuters today have been warned of strong winds (left) on a day when temperatures will struggle to get to double figures

'Temperatures on Thursday will be 11 or 12 degrees. But because of the rain and the wind it might not feel as pleasant if out and about. Wet and windy pretty much covers it.'

The Needles on the Isle of Wight has already been hit by 83mph gusts as the south west and Wales were buffered by gales after the storm swept in from Ireland, where it disrupted transport and power networks.

Will the severe weather affect election turnout? 

The prospect of the first winter election since 1974 has led to speculation that conditions could affect turnout, although suggest that the weather has little impact.

A 2007 University of Chicago study found voter turnout decreased by 1 per cent for every extra inch of rain. But research in 2013 from Gothenburg University in Sweden found no link between rain and turnout.

Another study by Oxford University found no connection between weather and how many people voted. Instead, it concluded how close the election race was and how clear the differences were between the parties' policies was more likely to have an influence.

Polls show the Tory lead over Labour has narrowed to eight points, while Brexit remains the defining issue when voters make their decision in three days' time.

Speaking before the 2017 General Election, Stephen Fisher, an associate professor of political sociology at Oxford University, said: 'There's basically no correlation between the weather and turnout.'

Chris Curtis, political manager at YouGov, said: 'Most of the evidence shows that weather actually has quite a small effect on turnout and factors such as how close the election is perceived to be and how different the parties' positions are normally have more of an impact.'

The weather for the February 1974 election was bad but turnout was 79 per cent, compared to 71 per cent for Labour's 'landslide' victory in May 1997 when temperatures were in the mid-20s.

Four years later, turnout was just 59 per cent - attributed to a comfortable Labour win being expected and policies that were not particularly distinct from the Conservatives'.

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The Met Office are yet to decide whether the conditions tomorrow warrant being named the second storm of the winter, Storm Brendan – before up to an inch of rain is expected to fall in some areas on election day this Thursday.

Forecasters said delays are likely to road, rail, air and ferry transport, and that short-term loss of power is possible in some areas. The M48 Severn Bridge introduced lane closures yesterday due to increasing wind speeds.

Western Power Distribution said it had experienced 26 high voltage faults in the south-west on Sunday and two in Wales, leading to 5,500 customers being cut off from power over the course of the day.

Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said: 'The strong winds are pretty widespread. It's very windy in the west and south-west so that's where we're going to see the greatest impact unfortunately.'

In the South West, Coastsafe, a partnership campaign aiming to improve coastline safety, urged people to be wary of tidal surges and debris being thrown over sea walls during the storm. 

By Thursday, parts of the UK could be drenched by close to an inch of rain in the 24-hour period covering election day. Areas along the west coast of England and Scotland are due heavy showers and blustery wind.

The day will also start off freezing, with temperatures ranging between -3C (27F) and 0C (32F) across the country as polling stations open.

Most rainfall will come tomorrow, when up to 2.5 inches will fall in parts of Scotland, according to Met Office meteorologist Emma Smith. Wednesday will also be wet and windy.

The band of showers moving across the country on Thursday will deposit around a third of an inch of rain throughout the day in most of England and Wales, although East Anglia should be largely dry.

Temperatures will be -3C (27F) in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, when polling stations open at 7am, with -1C (30F) in the north and 0C (32F) in the south.

Daytime highs will reach 11C (52F) in Plymouth, 5C (41F) in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and 7C in Glasgow (45F). Mrs Smith advised voters: 'Wrap up warm and take waterproofs and an umbrella.'

Yesterday saw a string of sailings to and from Scotland's islands cancelled, with warnings of more disruption tomorrow.

High winds put paid to sailings between Ardrossan and Brodick, Barra to Eriskay, Oban to Castlebay, Tayinloan to Gigha, Tarbert to Portavadie and all services from Mallaig.

Met Office figures show 3in (78.4mm) of rain fell at Achnagart in Ross-shire, between midday on Saturday and midday yesterday. By contrast, only 2in (56mm) fell in Ross and Cromarty during most of November.

** Have you taken any photographs of the windy weather today? Please email: pictures@mailonline.co.uk ** 

Storm Atiyah helps UK smash wind power record - generating 16 gigawatts of energy in just half on hour and accounting for HALF of all the electricity in the country on Sunday 

 By Joe Pinkstone for MailOnline

Storm Atiyah swept across the UK at the weekend and caused severe disruption, but the National Grid has now revealed it helped the UK set a new wind power record. 

Wind farms generated more than 16 gigawatts of power in Britain during a half hour window for the first time on Sunday evening, official figures reveal. 

That equates to five times the output expected from the new Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant.

Over the day as a whole, wind supplied 43.7 per cent of British electricity due to strong gusts, while nuclear generated 20.5 per cent, gas supplied 12.8 per cent and biomass 7.9 per cent.

The British grid also got 7.4 per cent of its power from imports, 3.1 per cent from coal and smaller amounts from hydro, solar, storage and other sources.

The maximum output was recorded between 5pm and 5:30pm GMT. 

Wind farms generated more than 16 gigawatts of power in Britain for the first time on Sunday evening, figures revealed. Over the day as a whole, wind supplied 43.7 per cent of British electricity due to strong gusts (file photo)

 Wind farms generated more than 16 gigawatts of power in Britain for the first time on Sunday evening, figures revealed. Over the day as a whole, wind supplied 43.7 per cent of British electricity due to strong gusts (file photo)

Industry body RenewableUK's Luke Clark said: 'This new British clean energy record is a great early Christmas present, and shows just how important wind is in an energy system that's changing rapidly.

'On a dark cold Sunday when we need it most, wind was providing more than 40 per cent of our power, far more than any other source of electricity.

'Wind energy is at the heart of our modern power system, enabling us to take practical action against dangerous climate change'.

The previous wind energy record of 15.32 gigawatts was set on February 8 this year.

ESO and National grid tweeted about the landmark moment, which marks the first time wind power has topped 16 gigawatts in a half hour period in Britain

ESO and National grid tweeted about the landmark moment, which marks the first time wind power has topped 16 gigawatts in a half hour period in Britain 

Extra power on the network on Sunday meant National Grid paid some households to use electricity, as it was cheaper than paying the operators of wind turbines to stop them generating.

At one point on Sunday night, customers on Octopus Energy's agile pricing tariff got as much as 5p per unit of power.

Their smart meters would have connected up once prices were low.

'It is remarkable that electric vehicle owners on such tariffs would have been paid to charge their cars,' said Robert Cheesewright, at Smart Energy GB.

'At Octopus we are increasingly seeing those on our agile smart meter tariff tweak their daily routines to push their usage into these cheap, off-peak and renewable-heavy hours,' said Octopus chief executive Greg Jackson.

Experts say that this will become more common as customers charge their cars overnight using cheap, or even free, renewable electricity, and some will sell it back to the grid the next day.

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