High winds knocked out power to thousands of people in southwest England on Friday morning as the first of two major storms expected to hit the U.K. this weekend swept in from the Atlantic .

The U.K. Met Office issued an amber warning — the second highest — for wind gusts up to 80 mph (130 kph) in Cornwall and Devon as the storm named Austen by the agency moved into the area early Friday.

According to the National Grid , which distributes electricity around the U.K., more than 16,000 homes were without power in the southwest by late morning.

Winds up to 60 mph (100 kph) are forecast across southern and central England throughout the day as the storm moves eastward along the English Channel coast.

With heavy rain forecast in some areas and the likelihood that high winds will topple trees that are still in full leaf, the Met Office warned of further power outages and travel disruptions.

Weather forecasters on Jersey issued a red warning — the highest — for shipping around the Channel Islands, with wind…