Winds top 100mph as Storm Eowyn causes travel disruption and power cuts
Millions of people across the UK and Ireland have been warned to stay indoors because of Storm Eowyn.
Winds reached 100mph as Storm Eowyn left one person dead, more than a million people without power and caused significant travel disruption across the UK and Ireland.
Rail services, flights and ferries have been cancelled across the country as rare red weather warnings are in place on Friday in Scotland.
A previous red warning covering Northern Ireland has been downgraded to amber.
A gust of 100mph was recorded at Drumalbin in South Lanarkshire in Scotland, the strongest gust so far today in the UK, the Met Office said.
In Ireland, a record-breaking wind speed of 183kmh (114mph) was measured in Mace Head, Co Galway on Friday morning, Met Eireann said.
Police in Ireland said a man had died after a tree fell on his car in Raphoe, County Donegal.
Police Scotland said its officers had responded to around 1,500 weather-related incidents across the country related to Storm Eowyn by 6pm on Friday.
Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill urged people to stay at home, adding “we are in the eye of the storm now”, in an interview with BBC Radio Ulster.
The storm forced hundreds of schools and nurseries across Scotland to close on Friday as First Minister John Swinney warned people not to travel.
A driver was seriously injured following a single-vehicle collision in Mauchline, East Ayrshire while another driver was injured when a tree fell on their van in the Balmore Road area of Glasgow on Friday morning, Police Scotland said.
More than one million homes, farms and businesses in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland are without power as record-breaking wind speeds swept across the area.
ESB Networks in Ireland and NIE Networks said they expect significant further outages as Storm Eowyn continues to batter parts of the island, with 725,000 customers affected in the Republic and 283,000 in Northern Ireland.
The Scottish Government’s Resilience Room met on Friday afternoon and officials said around 100,000 households across the country were without power.
The Isle of Man’s Department of Infrastructure has declared a major incident because of the number of fallen trees and their impact on arterial roads and emergency services, the government said on X.
Several trees, some more than 60 years old, have been uprooted or split in half because of high winds.
Cathriona Heffernan, 25, from Galway City in Ireland, described the winds as “scary” and told the PA news agency: “Those trees have been there 60 years and outdate the houses even. It’s sad seeing them down all the same but just glad no damage was caused by them.”
Elsewhere, firefighters were called to Harold’s Cross Road in Dublin after scaffolding collapsed and blocked the road. It appears to have fallen off the side of a three-storey building.
Meanwhile, an ice skating rink in the Dublin suburb of Blanchardstown appears to have lost its roof – leaving a pile of debris on the ground.
On Friday, about 20% of all flights scheduled to operate to or from airports in the UK or Ireland have been cancelled, according to Aviation analytics company Cirium.
A total of 1,124 flights have been cancelled, and Dublin, Edinburgh, Heathrow and Glasgow airports are the worst affected, according to the company.
A Ryanair flight to Edinburgh airport was forced to return to Stansted in Essex, where it had taken off from, after being unable to land in the Scottish capital.
Train operator ScotRail suspended all services across Scotland, saying it “would not be safe to operate passenger services”. Calmac and Western ferry services are also cancelled.
Other services affected by the storm include Avanti West Coast, LNER, West Midlands Railway, Lumo, Transport for Wales and South Western Railway.
Motorists in areas covered by red and amber weather warnings have been told to avoid travel “unless absolutely essential”.
National Highways said the A66 between the A1M in North Yorkshire and M6 in Cumbria, and the A628 Woodhead Pass in Derbyshire and South Yorkshire, were both closed overnight because of strong winds.
The M48 Severn bridge in Gloucester has been shut while the M62 Ouse Bridge and A15 Humber Bridge, both in East Yorkshire, and the A19 Tees flyover in Co Durham are closed to high-sided vehicles.
Satellite imagery suggests a dangerous weather phenomenon known as a sting jet developed over Ireland, the Met Office has said.
A sting jet is a small area of very intense winds, according to the weather service.
Gusts of 96mph were recorded at Brizlee Wood in Northumberland and 93mph in Aberdaron in Gwynedd, north Wales, this morning, the forecaster said.
The Met Office’s red warning for Scotland covers as far south as Lockerbie, as well as Edinburgh, Glasgow, Lanark and Ayr, and is in place until 5pm on Friday.
Wind speeds of up to 100mph are likely along coasts in both red warning areas, with gusts of up to 90mph expected inland, the forecaster said.
Amber wind warnings are also in place for Northern Ireland, the southern half of Scotland, northern England and north Wales between 6am and 9pm on Friday, and the northern half of Scotland from 1pm on Friday to 6am on Saturday.
Winds reaching 60mph to 70mph will be widespread in these areas, with up to 90mph possible on coastal areas.
A further yellow wind warning covers the rest of UK for all of Friday.
Yellow warnings for snow are in place in Scotland, from 6am to midnight, and rain in south-west England and Wales until 9am.
In Northern Ireland, a yellow warning for snow and ice has been issued between 7pm on Friday until 10am on Saturday.
RAC Breakdown advised motorists in warning areas to stay safe by parking away from trees, to keep a firm grip on the steering wheel, avoid coastal routes and watch out for debris.
More amber and yellow weather warnings for wind and rain have been issued for across the weekend and on Monday.
