A rough weekend before Christmas

A strengthening storm will bring downpours and strong winds to parts of western Europe this weekend.

Locations from France to northern Spain, the Balearics and Corsica were last night placed on alert for locally damaging winds and outbreaks of heavy rain.

Ireland and the United Kingdom are expected to avoid the strongest winds with this storm with gusty winds being confined to far southern parts of both countries.

Northern and western France as well as far northern coastal locations of Spain will bear the brunt of the storm?s strongest winds with frequent wind gusts of 50-60 mph (80-95 km/h) during the worst of the storm late tomorrow afternoon into Sunday morning. An AccuWeather Local StormMax wind gust of 70 mph (115 km/h) is possible.

These winds will be capable of causing significant travel disruptions and local power cuts. Wind gusts of 30-40 mph (50-65 km/h) may affect eastern France to Corsica and north-central Italy from tomorrow night into Sunday depending on the storm?s exact track.
Similar winds are expected to blow across the remainder of northern Spain and far northern Portugal as well as the Balearics. Rainfall from this storm will also bring the risk for travel disruptions and may produce some flooding problems.

For those Balearic residents travelling back to the UK this weekend, a soaking rain will spread across parts of Ireland, Wales and southern England during the day tomorrow before tapering off from west to east on Saturday night.

The exact track of the storm will determine how far northward steady rainfall advances. Current forecasts indicate areas from Dublin to Manchester and Leeds will avoid any steady rainfall with just a shower or two this weekend. Steady rainfall will be limited to the southern coast of Ireland and far southern Wales and England.

Then the sun will shine in the Balearics!