Storm Austen: Amber Warning Issued for South-West England as 80mph Gusts Strike Friday Morning

The first named storm of the season has stopped being a forecast and started being a warning. If you live in the far south-west of England, tonight is the night to bring the garden furniture in — and charge your phone.

The Met Office has issued an amber wind warning for the whole of Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly and parts of West Devon ahead of Storm Austen, which is expected to barrel across southern Britain late on Thursday and into Friday morning. The warning runs from 3am to 10am on Friday, October 23 — and the forecaster is not mincing its words.

Gusts of 60 to 70mph are expected widely across the amber zone, with some exposed coastal spots potentially seeing 80mph. “There is a good chance” of power cuts, the Met Office says, alongside travel disruption, damage to buildings from flying debris, and a danger to life from large waves and beach material being thrown onto coastal roads and sea fronts.

What the Met Office is actually saying

Met Office deputy chief forecaster Chris Bulmer put it plainly: “Storm Austen is expected to bring a spell of impactful weather to parts of the UK from Thursday night and through Friday. While there remains some uncertainty in the exact track of the storm, there is increasing confidence in the potential for disruptive winds across parts of southwest England, which is why an Amber warning has been issued.”

His advice is the boring kind that matters: “Winds gusts could potentially reach 60–70 mph for a time, and these strong winds will be combined with spells of heavy rain. People in affected areas should keep up to date with the latest forecast and warnings as the event develops.” In other words — check the warnings again in the morning before you travel, because this one can still shift.

It is not just the south-west

A much wider yellow wind warning runs from midnight on Thursday night to 2pm on Friday, covering southern England, south Wales and parts of the West Midlands, including Herefordshire. Gusts of 50 to 60mph are likely there, with 70mph or more possible on exposed coasts. Press Association reporting notes the yellow zone reaches London and the South East too — so the Friday morning commute could be messy well beyond the amber area.

Scotland gets its own warning: a yellow rain warning is in place for parts of southern and eastern Scotland from 6am Friday to 3am Saturday. And across the Irish Sea, Met Éireann has a nationwide status yellow rain warning in force from Thursday evening to Friday morning as the same frontal system crosses Ireland, with a risk of localised flooding and poor visibility on the roads overnight.

What to do before bed tonight

None of this is complicated, but it is the stuff that actually prevents damage:

• Tie down or bring inside anything the wind can pick up — garden furniture, bins, trampolines. The Met Office specifically names them, because every storm turns a forgotten trampoline into a neighbourhood hazard.
• Charge phones and power banks tonight, and know where your torch is. Power cuts are a stated “good chance” in the amber zone.
• Check before you travel on Friday morning — the Met Office says its warnings are under constant review and the storm's exact track is still being pinned down.
• Stay off exposed seafronts. The RNLI has warned of large waves and dangerous conditions on the coast; “danger to life” is the official phrase, not a flourish.
• High-sided vehicles beware — vans, lorries and caravans on exposed bridges and motorway stretches will feel every gust.

And after Friday?

Winds ease through Friday afternoon and evening as Austen moves east into the North Sea. But do not put the wellies away: the Met Office says the weather is likely to stay unsettled through the weekend and into next week, with another area of low pressure expected to bring strong winds to northern parts of the UK on Saturday and Sunday. Austen is the season opener, not a one-off — she is the first of the 2026/27 named storms, christened from Ireland's list (the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands take turns), and there are twenty more names waiting behind her.

Sources

• Met Office: Amber warning issued as Storm Austen approaches
• Leigh Journal (Press Association): Met Office issues amber wind warning for parts of south-west England
• The Traveler: Storm Austen prompts Met Office yellow wind alert (Ireland warnings)

Photo: storm clouds over the sea — Boris Kuznetsov, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.