Preston and Lancashire have been placed on red alert as gusts of up to 100mph could lash the city and county.
AdvertisementThe Met Office has issued a red warning of high winds from 1.30pm on Wednesday.
The strong winds are widely expected to be 80mph plus.
A statement said: “Winds of this strength can cause widespread structural damage, bringing down trees and also leading to loss of power supplies. In addition, large waves are likely to affect some coasts. The public should take action to alter their travel arrangements during this spell of storm force winds.”
The red warning remains in force until around 9pm on Wednesday when the wind speeds are expected to fall.