Met Office issues yellow weather warning in lead up to Christmas across UK

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning just a few days before Christmas.

The weather service warned that strong winds are expected in large parts of the country on Thursday, December 21 from 12am until the next day. Major cities affected include Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle upon Tyne, Belfast, and Glasgow.

The yellow warning means that travel disruptions are likely, furthered by road and rail cancellations. There is also a small chance of damage to buildings in affected areas.

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Discussing the forecast for the end of the week, the Met Office said: "Staying unsettled to end the week with further rain and showers, and perhaps some wintriness by Friday. Very windy with a risk of severe gales at times."

In Greater Manchester, current forecasts predict a mixture of rain and dark clouds throughout Thursday. Heavy rain is expected at lunchtime with a 70% chance of precipitation.

This will be accompanied by relatively warm temperatures for this time of year of 11C which will drop slightly to 9C in the evening. Meanwhile, wind speeds are expected to reach extreme levels, with gusts reaching as high as 50mph.

In the following days, wind speeds will drop slightly to a peak of 44mpg on Friday, December 22 and 36mph on Saturday, December 23. However, by Christmas Day wind speeds will become much more settled but temperatures will be much colder with lows of 7C and feels-like temperatures of 2C expected.

The Met Office adds: "By the Christmas period, a chance of a colder, showery interlude with northerly winds potentially