An amber weather warning remains in force on Monday as Storm Floris continues to bring chaos to the UK, causing thousands of households to lose power.

Dozens of trains have been cancelled after the Met Office recorded a peak wind speeds of 79mph in the Scottish island of South Uist.

A large amber warning for wind covering most of Scotland will remain in place until 11pm, with the Met Office warning of a “danger to life” due to flying debris, travel chaos, and power cuts.

A yellow wind warning covering Scotland, Northern Ireland, northern England and northern Wales is due to be lifted at 11.59pm.

In Ireland, around 10,000 homes were left without power as a result of the storm, largely in the country’s north west region. “The impact on the electricity network has been modest and in line with previous such wind warnings,” provider ESB Networks said.

Network Rail Scotland has said it is now dealing with disruption on central belt routes, posting maps appearing to show gusts of more than 90mph. The Met Office said the highest wind speeds confirmed so far are 79mph.

Flights have also been disrupted, with one flight from Luton to Inverness turning mid-air to return to its original airport due to heavy winds in Scotland.

Belfast and Aberdeen airports were the worst affected by the weather on Tuesday, according to analysis by The Independent. Belfast City, 10 departures and 11 arrivals have been grounded. At Aberdeen, 12 departures have been cancelled – but only six arrivals are axed.

The Met Office has issued yellow and amber wind warnings for parts of the UK on Monday 4 August, when Storm Floris is due to hit (Met Office)

At midnight, a fresh yellow weather warning for wind will be introduced for the Orkney Islands. The Met Office said: “Very strong northwesterly winds, including gusts of 50 to 70 mph, in the wake of Storm Floris will ease across Orkney early on Tuesday and then slowly wane a little over Shetland during Tuesday morning.”

The warning will be lifted at 8am on Tuesday, before better weather is expected across the UK.

Dan Suri, a Met Office chief meteorologist, said: “Much of Scotland is likely to see gusts of 50 to 70mph with more than 80mph on some exposed coasts, hills and bridges. Western coastal areas will see the highest gusts late morning, with the strongest winds transferring to northeastern Scotland by late afternoon.

“Across the wider Yellow warning area, many inland areas are likely to see gusts of 40 to 50mph, with 60mph likely at higher elevations and around some exposed coasts.”

Workers cut up a tree which was felled by the wind on Plessey Road in Blyth, Northumberland (PA)

While the warnings are in place, flying debris may cause injuries and pose a danger to life in places inside the warning zone, the Met Office said, as could “large waves and beach material being thrown onto sea fronts, coastal roads and properties”.

It is possible tiles will be blown from roofs, and there may be power cuts.

The storm has already started to disrupt road, rail, air and ferry services, and lead to bridges being closed.

Storm Floris is the sixth storm to be named in the 2024-2025 season, the last of which was Éowyn in January.

While it is more likely that named storms hit in late autumn and winter, they can also happen in summer.

It follows the driest spring in the UK for more than a century, as well as three heatwaves in quick succession. June was the warmest month since records began.

Gusts have reached as high as 79mph, the Met Office said (Jane Barlow/PA Wire)

The hot temperatures left swathes of the country on hosepipe bans as farmers warned of potential food shortages after being forced to harvest their crops early to avoid damage.

Last month was the fifth warmest July on record, according to provisional figures from the Met Office. The mean average temperature across the month was 16.8C, ranking it behind 2006 (17.8C), 2018 (17.2C), 1983 (17.1C) and 2013 (17C).

All four nations recorded one of their top 10 warmest Julys since Met Office temperature records began in 1884: Scotland and Northern Ireland saw their sixth warmest, England its seventh and Wales its tenth.

However, July also brought increasingly wet and temperamental weather. On Thursday, parts of England were warned about the possibility of flash floods in the Midlands, south and eastern England, and London. Heavy rain pummeled parts of the south, even though days earlier, parts of the UK were enjoying highs of 28C.

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