Storm Éowyn 24 January

In addition to the train problems from this latest storm (will they never end?, thanks Climate Change), there are dangers to life and limb for people out and about all over the country. Northern Ireland has now been issued with a RED warning (the highest), Scotland and northern England under an Amber warning, and much of the south and East under a Yellow.

In the next 24 to 36 hours take care...

Goodness these storms seem to be every few weeks now.

Thanks for the heads up.

The entire Republic of Ireland is also under a red weather warning with all rail service withdrawn tomorrow until the storm has passed and the network inspected for damage. All rural and inter city bus service in the Republic is also cancelled until mid afternoon on Friday.

Disruption to air travel in the affected areas can be expected (with potential diversions) as well as to sea travel and all travel on the road network.
Widespread road closures in the affected areas due to falling trees etc can be expected. This includes people travelling by rental car. If you drive in a red warning area and become involved in an incident you are likely to have insurance issues.

No train services or replacement transport will run anywhere in Scotland. On CalMac some ferries are already being moved to shelter at ports other than the ones they serve, as some ports will become untenable in the storm- so services will be slow to resume on Saturday as ships are repositioned back to route.

My son lives in County Donegal (close to NI border) and said it's supposed to be a big one. His classes have been canceled due to the potential of this storm. Hope everyone stays safe!

lets hope that the Holyhead repairs hold

I think the south east will miss the worst of it, but Big Jet TV on Youtube will be worth watching for arrivals and departures at Heathrow tomorrow.

https://www.youtube.com/@BigJetTV

um, GerryM, uh, maybe suggest that for folks after they have flown, not before.....??

I'm sure the skill of the pilots will keep everyone safe (fingers crossed).

It's usually quite entertaining viewing when it's stormy. Heathrow doesn't close for much it seems. First thing tomorrow morning will be when it's at its windiest. I'd imagine their live stream will start from first light tomorrow, which is quite late at night even on the west coast. I wouldn't be surprised if some other airports around the UK do close tomorrow morning.

I wonder if any of our Northern Ireland or Scotland correspondents received the mobile phone siren warning 15 minutes ago. Surprised that the England portions of the RED warning were not included.

Highest winds for a long time predicted overnight into the morning, worst up north.

this is a big storm, yes. Highly likely more dangerous.

This is a recent 16 minute long weather forecast from the UK Met Office issued which goes into a lot of detail: https://youtu.be/Eg5u-ENRJj0?si=zhA_twKQyS9G27nH

Nigel, you ask about whether those of us in Scotland received the emergency mobile phone warning. Yes! Although I live in Skye I am actually in a hotel at Glasgow airport at the moment. I was supposed to be flying to London and then on to Denver tomorrow (friday) morning, but my flight was changed by BA and I am now booked to fly out of Glasgow at 0635 on Saturday. Hopefullly the storm will have passed through and the ‘metal’ will be on the ground in the right place. The subsequent plans might tumble like a pack of cards if not! Of course Murphy’s Law is currently predicting that our original flight might one of the few to take off on Friday morning. But if the warnings are accurate I think that most unlikely….
Jacqui (Skyegirl-currently-on-tour)

best of luck, and happy flying. Remind the pilot to wind the rubber band

Winds are expected to rapidly increase on Friday morning with peak gusts of 80-90 mph (130-145 km/h) and possibly up to 100mph along some exposed coasts.

That will clear the smog from the area.

Hope everyone has a safe place to hunker down and damage is minimal.

As it happens that 0635 flight from Glasgow was just one of three flights to leave Glasgow this morning- departing 23 minutes late.

Yes I just saw that our original flight (the 0635) departed, but since BA were keen to move us to Saturday it would have been a roll of the dice to stay booked on that flight. As it turns out we will have a leisurely day in our hotel, provided the roof a]stays on, and hopefully if things ease later there will be an 0635 flight on Saturday and we will be on our way.

103mph up at Tan Hill.
I know they do snow" lock ins" up there....

the other side of the snide comments - a man has died from the storm when a tree hit a car in County Donegal.

More than one million customers are without electricity across the UK and Ireland.

More than 1,800 objects are blocking roads in Northern Ireland, both trees and other items.

More than 750,000 people across Ireland are at risk of losing safe water. Almost 140,000 have already lost their water service in the Republic.

Eight cars were crushed by a flying metal roof at a cheese operation in Cheshire in England.

So perhaps a little worse than mentioned previously.

Anyone can see for themselves from the BBC among many other news media what has actually happened today, rather than less than well informed commentary.

By comparison there are more people without power tonight in the Island of Ireland than there were in the PNW after the Seattle Bomb Cyclone of last November, and apparently the peak low pressure of this system was deeper than in Seattle. Some people in Ireland may be without power for ten days. Ireland has seen it's highest ever recorded wind speed, near Galway and a trail of destruction around the country.

Thank you, Nigel, for bringing some needed reality to counter the snide comments. I will not name the commenter, but I trust all know who it was, and how inappropriate those comments were. Storm Éowyn was/is NOT a laughing matter.

The West Coast rail route will be closed all day Saturday north of Preston with no alternative road transport, as will many local lines in North West England.
LNER are awaiting inspection of the track but are currently very uncertain whether any services (by any company) will be able to run north of Newcastle on Saturday. If the route remains closed it is unlikely that alternative transport will be able to be recruited.
All rail routes in Scotland remain closed until at least noon on Saturday.
On Thursday night West Coast Railways (better known for the Jacobite Steam Train) sent 5 diesel locomotives north from their depot at Carnforth to Scotland to work as line proving trains in assisting Scotland's railways to re-open when safe to do so.

CalMac ferries have to check all ports and vessels for damage before services can re-start. When services do restart priority will be given to lifeline freight and essential passenger movements for locals.