As per reliable news agencies, Storm ‘Éowyn’ has begun battering Northern Ireland, bringing with it winds of more than 90mph and leaving 93,000 homes and businesses without power. Renewed Red warnings are in place in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland for the first time.
Schools, colleges and universities are closed and most hospital appointments have been cancelled as significant disruption is expected as a result of the storm. The rare red weather warning will be in effect across Northern Ireland until 14:00 GM
The Met Office has said there is a danger to life and political leaders have urged people to stay at home. A number of businesses, including supermarkets, are also closed in light of the severe winds. Public transport service provider has cancelled all bus and train services during the red alert.
In the Republic of Ireland, there are more than 715,000 properties without power. Provisional new records for wind speed have been recorded in the Republic Ireland, with hurricane-force sustained winds of 85 mph (137 km/h) at Mace Head, County Galway. There were gusts of 114 mph (183 km/h) recorded at the same location. The previous records were sustained wind of 81mph (131 km/h) and gusts of 113 mph (182 km/h), both recorded in Limerick in 1945.
In Northern Ireland the strongest gusts have been recorded in Kilowen, County Down at just over 92mph (148km/h). The record for Northern Ireland is 124mph which was recorded at Kilkeel in 1974.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has advised members of the public to take all necessary precautions to keep themselves safe and not travel: Ensure your devices are charged; Ensure you have emergency lighting such as torches easily accessible in the event of power cuts; Have ready access to additional blankets or sources of warmth in the event your heating supply is disrupted; Make checks with your vulnerable family, friends and neighbors to ensure they have adequate provisions in place if carers and so on cannot reach them; In an emergency call 999.
Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, Ass Ch Cons Davy Beck and First Minister Michelle O’Neill had held a press conference on Thursday at Stormont. First Minister Michelle O’Neill had advised people to work from home and avoid unnecessary travel. She had added that she wanted to emphasize that a red warning was very serious and was only used when there was a genuine threat to life. Education Minister Paul Givan said he understood the closure of schools would affect pupils and businesses, but the decision had been taken “to avoid any potential risk to life for children and young people as well as staff”. The UK Government issued the “largest real life use to date” of its Emergency Alert system, notifying about 4.5 million people of severe weather in Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland. An alert was also sent on Thursday to phones warning of high winds.
A number of flights from Belfast City Airport have been cancelled, while Belfast International Airport and City of Derry Airport have also warned people to expect delays and cancellations. Dublin Airport said there could be “some disruption” to Friday’s flight schedule and that passengers should contact their airline directly for updates. P&O has announced ferry cancellations and Stena Line services between Ireland and Great Britain are also severely disrupted.
Four of Northern Ireland’s health trusts are advising that all appointments are cancelled, or should be considered cancelled, unless you have been contacted specifically to say otherwise. The Southeastern, Belfast, Western and Northern health trusts all said this included red flag cancer referrals and all scheduled appointments, with “significant disruption” expected. The exception is emergency departments and care, which will be operating as normal. Southern Health Trust says all outpatient appointments and all elective surgery, including red flag and urgent, are cancelled.
Storm ‘Éowyn’ is the fifth named storm of the season. It has been caused by powerful jet stream winds pushing low pressure towards the UK and Ireland over the Atlantic Ocean after a recent cold spell over North America.
Red is the most serious weather warning the Met Office can issue, meaning dangerous weather is expected and people are urged to take action to keep themselves and others safe. It is the first time a red weather warning has been issued for Northern Ireland since an impact-based system was introduced in 2011.
Speaking to RTÉ, chairman of the National Emergency Co-ordination Group said Storm Éowyn would “probably be among the severest storms” Ireland had ever seen.
Prior to this, millions had already got alert in Britain as Storm Éowyn closing in. Millions had received an emergency phone alert over the approaching Storm Éowyn. The warnings for wind meant flying debris could cause a danger to life. Alerts were sent to about 4.5 million people in at least 28 areas of both Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Storm Éowyn has been named by the Met Office and is the fifth named storm of the 2024/25 season.
The list of storm names is announced on 1 September each year and runs in alphabetical order, starting this season with Ashley, followed by Bert, then Conall, and later on possibly reaching as far as Izzy, Rafi and Tilly. Storms are named by the UK Met Office, Ireland’s Met Éireann or the Netherlands’ KNMI when they are forecast to cause “medium” or “high” impacts.
Why are storms named?
Met Office Head of Situational Awareness Will Lang, who leads responses in times of severe weather, said: “This is the 10th year of us naming storms and we do it because it works. Naming storms helps to make communication of severe weather easier and provides clarity.” Wind is the main factor for naming a storm, but sometimes rain or snow are taken in to account as part of the process.
Names are selected from a shortlist of favorites submitted by the public but also includes three historic names from the Met Office’s 170-year history. One may notice a few Dutch names too after KNMI, the national weather service of the Netherlands, became part of the western storm naming group in 2019.
The list runs from the start of September to the end of August the following year to coincide with the start of autumn and the end of summer, when the likelihood of low-pressure systems and the potential for named storms increase.
Why are there no storms for Q, U, X, Y and Z?
The list of storm names covers only 21 letters of the alphabet, to maintain consistency with the naming of tropical storms and hurricanes in the North Atlantic by the US National Hurricane Center.
This is because the National Hurricane Center produces six lists of storm names that are used in rotation and it is difficult to find six suitable names (one for each list) starting with Q, U, X, Y and Z. Presently, in the UK, the Met Office has warned it is very likely there will be a risk to life and people should avoid travelling in Storm Éowyn – pronounced AY-oh-win.
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