Ronaldsway Met Office has said that while there is ‘still a small chance’ the amber weather warning could be upgraded to red, at this stage it’s ‘unlikely’.

Yesterday forecasters issued an Amber weather warning covering the Isle of Man.

In parts of the UK and Wales, a rare red weather warning has been issued as winds of up to 90mph are expected to bring ‘danger to life’.

The warning covers the coastal areas of Wales, Somerset and parts of Devon. It is in place from 3am on Saturday until 11am.

Storm Darragh is set to sweep across the island over the weekend and is expected to bring much disruption with it.

Ronaldsway Met Office told Isle of Man Today the current situation and explained whether they’re likely to upgrade the alert.

A spokesperson said: ‘We are currently on an Amber warning and there is still a small chance it may be upgraded to Red but at this stage this is unlikely.

‘If there is a strong signal for gusts in excess of 80mph over a large part of the island as well as high confidence then this would warrant a red warning.

‘At this stage the west and southwest parts of the island are likely to see the strongest gusts into the 70s of mph tomorrow morning.’

The weather is expected to take a turn for the worse today when a yellow ‘be aware’ alert kicks-in from 3pm on Friday.

However, another weather alert - this time a more severe ‘amber’ warning - will kick-in at 3am on Saturday, according to the Ronaldsway Met Office.

That alert will last until 11.59pm on Saturday.

Forecasters say that severe gale force winds could reach up to 80mph in exposed spots while the amber warning is in place.

Other areas on the island could get gusts of around 60-70mph.

Forecasters say an area of low pressure will track across the British Isles later Friday and overnight into Saturday, with persistent and heavy rain affecting the island.

Rainfall accumulations are expected to be 15-25mm quite widely across the island but with 30-50mm possible over the hills.

Ronaldsway Met Office say this persistent rain is likely to create difficult driving conditions with standing water developing on the island's roads, as well as a risk of localised flooding in prone locations.

All Steam Packet sailings to Heysham and back are at risk until at least Saturday morning while a number of flights are also in jeopardy.

A number of festive events set to take place on the Isle of Man over the weekend have already been cancelled in anticipation of the storm.