The forecaster issued yellow weather warnings for wind in western areas, covering Cornwall, much of Wales, parts of Lancashire and Cumbria, and up into central Scotland and Northern Ireland from 8am to 10pm on Saturday.

Its update said: "Stronger gusts are now expected across some parts of the warning area, with likelihood also increased."

The warning said there was a risk of "injuries and danger to life" from large waves and beach material being thrown on to sea fronts, coastal roads and properties.

It added road, rail, air and ferry services may be affected, with longer journey times and cancellations possible.

There could also be power cuts and mobile phone coverage may also be affected.

Get your local forecast from Sky News

On Saturday, almost the entire west coast of England, Wales and Scotland - and all of Northern Ireland - will be affected by strong winds as Storm Kathleen hits.

Gusts of 50mph are widely expected and exposed places could see 60mph to 70mph.

Met Office meteorologist Greg Dewhurst said: "Winds pick up further through Friday evening, overnight into Saturday, where as we start Saturday morning we'll see widely across the country gusts of 30-40mph.

"In western parts of the UK, inland, we could see gusts of 40 to 50mph and then around the western coast of the UK we could see gusts of 60-70mph."

However, it's set to be a Saturday of contrasts as other areas could be hotter than Lisbon, with temperatures in the low 20s possible in southeast England.

Storm Kathleen has been named by Ireland's national forecaster Met Eireann, which has issued its own warnings covering the whole country.

Cork, Kerry, Galway and Mayo are set to be the worst affected.

They are under an amber alert, meaning "very difficult travel conditions" and potential fallen trees, power outages and coastal flooding.

Read more from Sky News:
Teenager stabbed to death in afternoon attack
Consultants accept pay offer to end dispute

Storm Kathleen is the 11th named storm in eight months, and this only the second time in a UK storm season that the letter K has been reached in the alphabet.