'This isn’t just reggae, it’s readiness with rhythm'
Devon's former head of roads has released a song calling for drivers to be sensible during Storm Amy
Devon's former head of roads has released a song ahead of the arrival of Storm Amy - which he says promotes road safety and also praises highways crews.
Stuart Hughes, the now East Devon district Conservative councillor, is also a part time musician and radio presenter and recently released a pothole protest song - as he called for improvements to Devon's roads.
The band are known as 'Huggy & the Highway Gang featuring the Storm Chasers' and the reggae track is called 'Storms Behind, Storms Ahead'.
Cllr Hughes said: "We're now looking at a new season of storms for 25/26 and the first one of course Amy is due to hit the UK this weekend."
He says the song is a nod to storms past and present, adding: "I've tried to include every storm from A to Z."
The radio presenter says there's a serious message behind the release, adding: "It tells people don't drive through the flood water and if your journey isn't essential well just stay at home and wait for the storm to pass.
"It also sings the praises of council highway crews who work around the clock dealing with the effects of a storm."
He joked: “This isn’t just reggae, it’s readiness with rhythm.”
In August, the former head of roads for Devon County Council released a song calling for potholes to be fixed.
At the time the now district Conservative councillor said: "Fillin’ Potholes pays homage to highway crews worldwide while amplifying a serious concern: the chronic underfunding of local councils responsible for maintaining public roads."
The latest song can be found here
What can we expect from Storm Amy?
The first named storm of the season has prompted weather warnings throughout Britain for heavy rain and strong winds of up to 95mph.
The north and west of Scotland will be worst hit by the storm with a Met Office amber warning for "damaging winds" in place from 5pm on Friday until 9am Saturday.
The Devon-based Met Office warned of gusts up to 70mph will be felt "fairly widely" while "more exposed areas" could see winds of up to 95mph along with spells of heavy rain across the country.
The forecaster said: "Storm Amy is expected to bring a spell of strong winds to many parts of northern and western Britain later on Friday and overnight into Saturday.
"South to southwesterly winds will increase during Friday, initially in the west before extending eastwards during Friday night.
"Gusts of 50-60 mph are likely in many areas and may reach 60-70 mph in more exposed parts.
The Met Office warned of difficult driving conditions at the weekend, especially for high sided vehicles on prone routes, such as crosswinds on exposed or high level routes.
It went on: "Winds will ease for most parts through Saturday afternoon, but will continue to be very strong for the Northern Isles and parts of the far north of Scotland through to the end of Saturday, before slowly easing overnight."