THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM: BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES AS CIARA IS HEADING OUR WAY

It's time to batten down the hatches, stick a brick on the wheelie bin lid and put the garden chairs in the shed as Salford is set to be battered by strong gales over the weekend along with the rest of the country.

Don't let the clear skies and sunshine deceive you as storm Ciara will push its way across the British Isles and Salford is among the areas expected to take the full brunt of the winter storm.

The UK Met Office has issued Yellow warnings of possible hurricane force gusts of up to 80mph, heavy rain and even snow on higher ground over the weekend and extending into early next week.

Coastal areas of the UK are set to take the main impact of the system but none of the UK will be spared from its wrath as the storm tracks inland.

Winds will become increasingly intense as Saturday progresses and by Sunday much of the UK will be affected with the storm bringing torrential rain to some parts.

The Met Office has warned of potential localised flooding and drivers should keep their speeds down and those in high sided vehicles are being warned to avoid exposed routes and bridges such as the Barton Fly-over.

Neil Armstrong, a chief meteorologist with the Met Office, said:

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“An extremely strong jet stream flowing from North America will be steering a succession of low-pressure systems towards the UK at least into the middle of next week.

“The relative predictability of this pattern has provided an early warning and has given us the certainty to be able to name this storm four days ahead.”

 

The temperatures dropped below freezing last night and Salford Council sent the Gritters out to dump 30 Tonnes of the stuff onto the main routes around the City.