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Strong winds of up to 90mph brought by Storm Dudley could make the next few days "very challenging", forecasters have warned.

And when it clashes with incoming Storm Eunice, people should brace themselves, as the Met Office extending its amber warnings to cover a larger area.

The Met Office issued an amber weather warning for strong winds caused by Storm Dudley covering central Scotland, parts of Northern Ireland and northern England above Hull.

It is expected to last from 2pm to midnight, with yellow warnings for wind as far south as Birmingham.

Heavy showers are expected throughout the afternoon, with snow on high ground in the North.

In the southern half of the UK, mild temperatures of up to 14C or 15C were forecast for Wednesday.

Thursday is expected to offer some respite for most, but Storm Eunice was predicted to be even more challenging for many, this time affecting the southern half of the UK on Friday.

Another amber warning has been issued, with the potential for stronger winds, and predictions that gusts could top 90mph in the South West and South Wales.

Met Office spokeswoman Nicola Maxey said: "We are looking at particularly stormy period right now, with two named storms coming through one after the other.

"This sort of weather set-up is typical for the UK in the winter, with low pressure coming in from the west, driven by the jet stream."

She said the forecast after Storm Eunice continued to look unsettled with the potential for more wet and windy conditions over the weekend and the start of next week.

Scottish deputy first minister John Swinney warned the weather could cause disruption to travel and power supplies in the country, as well as danger from falling trees.

He said: "We expect another period of disruption this week, with Storms Dudley and Eunice set to bring strong winds to Scotland.

"High winds may cause issues on roads and bridges, disruption to power supplies and danger from falling trees. We would urge everyone to plan their journeys in advance, exercise caution on the roads, and follow the latest travel advice."

Following a meeting of the Scottish government's Resilience Room, Mr Swinney also said they would continue to monitor the situation as the storms approach.

He added on Twitter: "Resilience meeting scotgov just completed. The next few days will be very challenging with #StormDudley.

"Please see ScotRail plans and follow advice there is a high risk of disruption to travel. Please #StaySafe."

ScotRail also announced that services in areas threatened by severe weather would end at 4pm on Wednesday for safety reasons.

"Scotland is bracing itself for Storm Dudley tomorrow," the rail operator said on Twitter.

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 nation from Wednesday night into Thursday morning, and Storm Eunice which follows.

In a Met Office daily forecast video, meteorologist Alex Deakin has warned people in the affected areas to brace for "heavy rain and ever-strengthening winds".

"It's going to be a windy day throughout with those winds continuing to pick up through the afternoon and the evening," he said.

60-70mph gusts are also expected widely inland, with perhaps 80 mile an hour gusts in a few spot, while 100mph gusts are possible on some south-western coasts, meteorologist Christopher England said.

There's a risk of snow over Northern Ireland, northern England and southern Scotland, with 5cm, 2inches possible at quite low levels and 30cm, a foot, over the hills. There'll be drifting in the strong winds, and possible blizzard conditions at times.

Blizzard conditions

"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.