THE Met Office has announced an amber weather warning across Cornwall and has named a storm which is set to move in to the county and the rest of the South West this evening (Thursday).It will mean coastal gales of up to 75mph, heavy rain and the risk of potential damage.

The naming of Storm Evert comes as an amber wind warning has been issued for much of Cornwall, as well as the Isles of Scilly, whle yellow warnings remain in place for the wider South West, southern Wales and the southern coast of England.

After these areas are affected initially, high winds will then then spread into other coastal counties of England during Thursday night and Friday morning, before easing from the west later on Friday.

The low pressure system now called Storm Evert is currently moving in from the west and will make landfall this evening. The highest winds are expected to be over parts of Cornwall during the early hours of Friday, when gusts could reach as high as 75mph in the most exposed areas.

Other coastal areas in southern parts of England and Wales will also see high gusts of mainly between 40 and 60mph, bringing with them the chance for some travel disruption and damage to temporary structures.

The high winds will be accompanied by some rain at times. The wettest weather tonight will be over South West England and parts of Wales, with the heaviest rain then moving eastwards on Friday and including a risk of thunderstorms in a few places in South East England during the afternoon.

North Cornwall and North Devon are likely to be hardest hit, but other areas will be affected too. Met Office Principal Operational Meteorologist Dan Suri said: “Storm Evert will bring some high winds, particularly along the northern coast of the South West, but there will be gusty winds more widely in southern areas, which brings the potential for some impacts, especially for those that might be travelling or camping in the weather.

“Storm Evert will move eastwards across southern UK during Friday daytime, clearing into the North Sea during Friday evening. As well as the high winds, there will also be some heavy rain before it leaves our shores, with up to 40 mm possible over parts of Wales and the South West and the potential for 40 or 50 mm rain in a short period of time from heavy, possibly thundery, showers over parts of eastern and central England on Friday afternoon.”