Storm Barbara is set to batter Hyndburn this Christmas, forecasters have warned.

A yellow ‘be aware’ weather warning has been issued for the region on Friday and Christmas Eve.

People should be prepared for disruption to power supplies, traffic and travel plus ‘structural damage’ as a result of high winds, the Met Office said.

The yellow warning is in place from 9am on Friday until 9am on Saturday.

The Met Office’s chief forecaster said: “A deep depression, now named Barbara, will move northeastwards across the Atlantic, passing close to the northwest of Scotland later Friday and overnight into Saturday.

“South to southwesterly winds will increase earliest across the west of the warning area early on Friday, before the strongest winds develop across western then northern Scotland later on Friday and overnight into Saturday.

"The last place to see winds easing is likely to be Shetland on Saturday morning.”

Forecasters say storms of up to 60 to 70 mph are expected across the region with blasts of up to 80 - 90 mph in parts of western and northern Scotland.