New wind warnings issued for Yorkshire as Storm Éowyn prompts rare red alerts
A number of new weather alerts have been put in place across the UK as the country braces itself for an epic storm to arrive.
Storm Éowyn is fast approaching the UK, with weather warnings in place across various parts of the country from today all the way until Monday. Today, a yellow wind warning is in force across the South and the Welsh coast.
This is expected to end at 5pm today before weather warnings covering Yorkshire come into force on Friday. At 6am on that day, an amber warning for wind will come into force, covering Bradford, Huddersfield, Harrogate and Scarborough.
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The Met Office has warned people to be aware that power cuts may occur and that there may be disruption to public transport and roads. There is also a chance of damage to homes and injuries and danger to life due to flying debris and large waves.
The Met Office said: "Storm Éowyn will move across the northwest of the UK on Friday, clearing to the northeast on Friday night. This will bring a spell of very strong west to southwesterly winds, with peak gusts of 60-70 mph fairly widely inland, 70-80 mph in some areas, and 80-90 mph along more exposed coasts and hills (perhaps even higher in a few locations).
"It should be noted that there may be a slight reduction in wind strength for a time as the centre of Storm Éowyn passes overhead, this most likely in parts of Northern Ireland and western Scotland, before winds rapidly increase again. Winds will gradually ease later on Friday."
A second yellow wind warning covers the rest of Yorkshire, including Leeds, Sheffield, Wakefield and York. This comes into force at 12am on Friday, and will last until 11.59pm.
This means that once the amber warning is lifted, the yellow warning will remain in force across all of Yorkshire. The Met Office added: "Storm Éowyn will move across the northwest of the UK on Friday, clearing to the northeast on Friday night. This will bring a spell of strong winds, initially south to southeasterly before turning west to southwesterly, with peak gusts of 50-60 mph inland, 60-70 mph around some coasts and hills, and perhaps up to 80 mph in exposed parts of western Scotland.
"It should be noted that there may be a slight reduction in wind strength for a time as the centre of Storm Éowyn passes overhead, this most likely in parts of Northern Ireland and Scotland, before winds rapidly increase again. The wind strength will gradually ease across southern areas later on Friday."
Others parts of the UK are going to be hit even worse on Friday, with two red warnings in place. One covers all of Northern Ireland, including Belfast and Derry, lasting from 7am to 2pm. The second is in place in Scotland, covering everywhere from Stranraer to Edinburgh, but missing much of the Highlands. This is in force from 10am until 5pm.
For these the Met Office said: "Southwesterly then westerly winds will rapidly increase from west to east Friday mid-morning onwards into the afternoon, with peak gusts of 80-90 mph fairly widely and perhaps up to 100 mph along exposed western coasts. This brings the risk of significant disruption to transport and power supplies as well as dangerous conditions outdoors. Winds will gradually ease through Friday evening."
On Saturday, an amber warning for wind will remain in place over the Highlands, including Inverness and Oban as well as the Western Isles such as Lewis and Skye, and the Northern Isles in Orkney and Shetland. A yellow warning for windcovers the rest of Scotland from Ayr northwards.
Into Sunday, warnings will be reintroduced along the western coast of England and the south west of Scotland, as well as Northern Ireland and Wales. This yellow warning for wind covers the English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish coasts up to Islay.
The yellow warning for rain covers most of Wales, the midlands up to Nottingham, and the south. This is in place from 8am on Sunday until 6am on Monday.
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