As per a BBC report, Millions of people in parts of Wales and south-west England were told to stay at home as Storm Darragh’ brought winds with gusts of up to 93mph. The storm caused “significant disruption”, the Met Office said. Tens of thousands of homes are without power in south Wales and western England.
The Met Office issued its highest-level red warning for potentially life-threatening weather. The alert is in place and covers western and southern Wales and the Bristol Channel coast.
Around three million people received a government emergency alert on their mobiles on Friday evening advicing about the storm.
Storm Darragh is the fourth named storm of the year, after Ashley, Bert and Conall. Some parts of the UK are still recovering from Storm Bert, which caused extreme flooding and led to the deaths of five people in November. Scientists say as the Earth’s climate gets warm, extreme weather events will become more frequent. For every 1 degree Celsius rise in average temperature, the atmosphere can hold up to around 7% more moisture.
Globally, heavy rainfall events have become more frequent and intense over most land regions, according to the UN’s climate body, which says the pattern will intensify with further warming.
As per map of the UK-one of it shows an amber wind warning covering parts of Northern Ireland and the west coast of England, Wales and Scotland. It has text suggesting wind gusts can reach up to 80mph.
The other shows a red wind warning covering western Wales, with gusts saying speeds will reach 90mph.
The alert added that people should “consider gathering torches, batteries, a mobile phone power pack and other essential items you already have at home”, in case of power cuts.
The message was the largest use yet of the UK warning system and made a loud siren-like sound when delivered to devices, lasting for around 10 seconds. “Being outside in high winds makes you vulnerable to injury. Stay indoors if you can,” it said. Message was sent to the mobile phones of people in areas covered by the Met Office red weather warning for the storm, and it was delivered to devices, even if they were set on silent modes.
Wind gusts of 93mph have been recorded in Capel Curig, north Wales, and 92mph in Aberdaron on the Llyn Peninsula. Whereas, Gusts of 80-90mph have been recorded around the Irish Sea. It is unusual to see wind speeds this high sustained over a number of hours.
The most severe winds are expected on the western side of the UK as the storm moves south-eastwards across the country. They are expected to peak in the coming hours. According to the National Grid, more than 22,000 properties were without power at 06:00 in Wales.
Across the Midlands and south-west England, power cuts were affecting more than 12,000 premises, National Grid live data showed.
Western and southern coastal regions of Wales, as well as the Bristol Channel including parts of Bristol and Cardiff were all covered by the warning.
The government alert was sent to every compatible mobile phone in impacted areas, containing information about the warning and guidance on how to stay safe.
Outside of test scenarios, the alert system has been used twice before, though both times on a smaller scale. The last Met Office red warning was issued in January for winds in north-east Scotland. Red wind warning sees events cancelled across the west of England; and, Plymouth & Cardiff games off amid storm warnings
Late on Friday evening, winds were beginning to pick up across Wales and south-west England, with the highest gusts reaching 74mph in north-west Wales. Amber warnings covering Northern Ireland, Wales and the west coast of England are in place, as well as less serious yellow warnings for large parts of the rest of the UK. Winds are also expected to cause large waves, power cuts affecting mobile phone services, as well as damage to buildings and homes. Transport networks are also anticipated to be affected.
In the north of Scotland, a yellow warning for snow is in place, with areas above 400m (1,300ft) getting up to 20cm (8in) of snow. The Irish Meteorological Service has also issued a red warning for wind across parts of counties Donegal, Leitrim and Sligo.
In Wales, all domestic football and rugby matches scheduled for Saturday were cancelled, as has Cardiff City’s Championship fixture against Watford which had been due to kick off. Other postponed football matches included Newport County v Carlisle United in League Two and Plymouth v Oxford United in the Championship. Meanwhile, Welsh Rugby Union has postponed all community rugby fixtures. As the weather worsened, shops and cafes in Welsh towns decided to close on Saturday the run-up to the festive period. For many businesses, this could mean a significant loss of earnings on one of the busiest shopping days of the season.
Across the Bristol Channel in Somerset’s Weston-super-Mare, another area covered by the red warning, businesses along the seafront have secured their outdoor furniture and plan to open later. Across the UK, there have also been widespread cancellations of winter events and Christmas markets scheduled for the weekend. In London, all of the Royal Parks remained close, which includes the popular Winter Wonderland attraction in Hyde Park. Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire also said on its website that it would not open for safety reasons due to the weather. Travel providers have also warned of cancellations and disruption this weekend.
Train operators CrossCountry and Chiltern Railways told passengers to only travel if “absolutely necessary”, while Great Western Railway advised customers due to travel this weekend to “change plans if possible”. Ferry crossings between Newcastle and Amsterdam have been cancelled until Sunday due to “adverse weather conditions”, operator DFDS said.
Educationist/Administrator/Editor/Author/Speaker
Commencing teaching in his early twenties, Prof Aggarwal has diverse experience of great tenure in the top institutions not only as an educationist, administrator, editor, author but also promoting youth and its achievements through the nicest possible content framing. A revolutionary to the core, he is also keen to address the society around him for its betterment and growth on positive notes while imbibing the true team spirit the work force along with.
Comments