Just as the winds have dropped and the rain eased off, the island is set to do it all again as storm Dennis is forecast to hit this weekend.

Winds of up to 70mph will blast the island throughout Saturday and Sunday and also bring some prolonged periods of rain.

The fourth named storm of the winter 2019/20 season, Dennis is currently swirling in the Atlantic, but is set to hit the island early on Saturday morning.

While Dennis is unlikely to cause as much disruption as storm Ciara did last weekend, with the Steam Packet only managing one return sailing to Heysham over several days, there is still the risk of travel disruption.

A yellow weather warning was issued by the Met Office ahead of the weekend for severe gales from 10am tomorrow (Saturday) to 6am on Monday.

David Britton of the Met Office said: ’Gales or severe gales, with a risk of gusts to storm force, are expected on Saturday with winds speeds potentially reaching up to 70 mph.

’This may result in some travel disruption and a risk of minor structural damage in places.

’ Some coastal overtopping may also occur near the time of high tides.

’While there will be prolonged periods of rain, the focus for storm Dennis is very much on the wind.’

Storm Ciara also hit the island’s shoppers last week as several days with no boats left supermarkets, such as Tesco, with empty shelves. The impact was perhaps best seen when after the Ben-my-Chree and the drafted in MV Arrow had arrived in the island, shoppers flocked to the shops.

The Steam Packet has confirmed that services this weekend are facing possible disruption. Saturday’s sailings could all be cancelled or delayed.

All of Saturday and Sunday’s sailings are facing disruption, while the company is also warning that Monday morning’s sailing to Heysham and return to Douglas at 2.15pm could also be affected.

Updates for this weekend’s sailings will be posted on www.iomtoday.co.im as and when they become available.