The UK will be battered by storm force winds and heavy rain over the next 36 hours.

People are urged to protect their homes and businesses against flooding as Storm Brendan sweeps in from the Atlantic.

The Met Office has issued a yellow wind warning for Monday afternoon and evening for Northern Ireland and much of the western half of the UK along with northeast Scotland.

Homeowners and businesses often don’t realise that councils have no responsibility to provide sandbags if flooding is expected. They must protect themselves and one way to do this is to have FloodSax alternative sandbags which are space-saving to store and easy to deploy. They are available from branches of Travis Perkins or online at http://www.floodsax.co.uk/buy/uk-suppliers

Met Office Chief Meteorologist Frank Saunders said: “The UK and Ireland will turn increasingly windy on Monday as Storm Brendan approaches and there'll also be some heavy rain.  It’s going to be particularly windy across the western half of the UK with gusts reaching 60-70 mph along Irish Sea coastlines, the west of Scotland and perhaps some English Channel coasts - maybe even 80 mph in a few exposed places. This is likely to cause some disruption to sea, road and air travel.

“As Storm Brendan moves eastwards strong winds will also develop across eastern parts of the UK, particularly northeast Scotland where there is also a wind warning in place.”

Commenting on the forecast for the rest of the week, Frank added: “It looks like it's going to stay very unsettled, with the potential for further disruptive weather in places.”