The Met Office’s red “danger to life” weather warning has begun.
Starting from 3am this morning it is set to last until 11am.
The wind warning could cause danger to life due to flying debris and falling trees, the Met Office said, and it is expected to cause “significant disruption”.
It covers the west coast of Wales from Bangor down to Cardiff as well as covering some coastal parts of the South West.
Weston-Super-Mare and areas just west of Bristol are also affected.
It comes after a larger amber wind warning covering the west coast of Britain, from parts of southwest Scotland down to Truro, came into effect earlier this morning.
The red warning is set to bring “extremely strong winds” as Storm Darragh moves across the Irish Sea, with gusts of up to 90mph over the coasts and hills of parts of Wales.
Met Office Chief Forecaster, Jason Kelly, said: “The worst impacts from Storm Darragh will be felt as we go through the early hours of Saturday morning and through the day with, in addition to the broad yellow warning, red and amber wind warnings in place from 1am.
“In the red warning area, we could see wind gusts of up to 90mph along the coasts of West and South Wales as well as funnelling through the Bristol Channel, with some very large waves on exposed beaches.
“Although there is a lower likelihood of impacts outside of the red and amber warning areas this doesn’t mean you won’t see them.
“We are likely to see impacts across the whole of the country and people should keep an eye on the latest forecast details and prepare for the bad weather, especially if planning to be out and about on Saturday.
“Some areas are likely to have a relatively quiet start to Saturday, weather-wise, but winds will quickly increase from the west through the day”
There are fears over the coming storm because some areas like South Wales suffered badly under recent wet weather.
This led to criticism of the Met Office for not upgrading Storm Bert to a higher warning for some.
