Brits are being told to brace for gusts of winds up to 90mph as Storm Dudley sweeps in from the Atlantic on Wednesday morning with a "danger to life" warning in place from the Met Office.
It is expected to be a mild start to Wednesday before the winds begin to pick up before becoming "very strong and disruptive".
There is also the possibility of widespread travel chaos including a "good chance" of power cuts and disruption to transport services.
The amber warning states: "Injuries and danger to life is likely from large waves and beach material being thrown onto coastal roads, sea fronts and properties."
While there is also a wider yellow warning for strong winds, the more serious amber is in place from 4pm until midnight and covers a large belt across the middle of the UK, including regions north of Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire and south of Perthshire in Scotland.
Forecasters have said residents in this region can also expect heavy showers throughout the afternoon and snow on high ground.
A yellow warning for wind, which could disrupt public transport and power lines, is also in place from 6pm on Wednesday, covering all of northern and central England, most of Wales and southern and central Scotland.
This warning is in force until 9pm on Friday, and expands to cover Northern Ireland from Thursday.
Met Office forecasters have said the conditions are caused by Storm Dudley which will move across the northern half of the country from Wednesday night into Thursday morning, before Storm Eunice follows it.
Met Office forecaster Alex Deakin has warned people to brace for "heavy rain and ever-strengthening winds".
He said: "It's going to be a windy day throughout with those winds continuing to pick up through the afternoon and the evening.
"There will be some snow on the hills across Scotland, but it's the rain and more particularly the wind we're concerned about in this storm system on Wednesday.
"It's likely to cause transport disruption and dangerous conditions by the sea."
Storm Dudley is expected to bring gusts of up to 80-90mph on exposed coasts and hills of Scotland, with 60-70mph possible further inland.
Meanwhile, Storm Eunice is predicted to bring heavy rain and possible snowfalls on high ground from the Midlands northwards.
Where snow does fall, the high winds are likely to create blizzard conditions, the Met Office has said.
Motorists have been urged to drive carefully, while electricity supply firms have issued warnings following the widespread outages in northern England and Scotland which followed storms earlier this year.
Temperatures are milder than usual for the time of year on Wednesday, with highs of 15C predicted in London, 13C in Cardiff, 12C in Belfast and 9C in Edinburgh.
UK forecast for the next 5 days
Today:
Rain and hill snow over northern Scotland clearing, then dry and bright for a time. Further rain, some heavy, sweeping eastwards, followed by sunny intervals and squally showers across central areas. Windy with gales in places, locally severe later.
Tonight:
Very windy through the evening with rain clearing, leaving clear intervals and blustery showers, these frequent in the north and falling as snow over hills.
Thursday:
Sunny spells and showers, most of these in the north and west, where heavy at times. Wintry showers in the north. Winds easing through the day. Rain into southwest later.
Outlook for Friday to Sunday:
Storm Eunice is likely to bring a spell of disruptive strong winds to southern areas with snow further north. Remaining very unsettled with rain and strong winds over the weekend.
