Storm Eowyn LIVE: Red warning in effect as Britons told to ‘stay indoors’ amid record-breaking winds
Storm Eowyn is causing mass chaos across the UK with widespread travel disruptions and school closures, as the area covered by a red alert has been expanded.
Met Office red wind warnings are now in effect in Northern Ireland until 2pm on Friday and in western central and southern areas of Scotland until 5pm.
Winds of more than 100mph are set to pose a danger to life in parts of the UK. In Ireland, forecaster Met Eireann recorded gusts of 114mph, the fastest speed since records began.
All trains in Scotland have been suspended and motorists in Northern Ireland have been advised not to drive unless absolutely essential.
Network Rail said it has taken “the difficult decision” to close the West Coast Main Line north of Preston and the East Coast Main Line north of Newcastle for much of Friday. Passengers on the East Coast main line, which links London King’s Cross with northeast England and Scotland, will face disruption all weekend.
Glasgow and Edinburgh airports saw dozens of flights cancelled in the morning due to bad weather conditions.
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WATCH: GB News Scotland reporter Tony McGuire reports from Ayrshire
Over 1,000 flights cancelled across UK and Irish airports
Research from Aviation analytics company Cirium said 1,070 flights scheduled to operate to/from airports in the UK or Ireland on Friday have been cancelled.
Experts estimated this was the equivalent to 20 per cent of all flights.
The worst affected airports in terms of the number of cancellations are Dublin (119 departures, 109 arrivals), Edinburgh (81 departures, 77 arrivals), Heathrow (50 departures, 58 arrivals) and Glasgow (43 departures, 42 arrivals).
Motorway chaos sees drivers stuck in hours-long delays as Storm Eowyn batters UK – ‘Avoid the roads!’
Drivers are being urged to consider whether they need to travel during the dangerous conditions NATIONAL HIGHWAYS
Drivers are being warned of long traffic delays across major motorways around the UK as the country is battered by Storm Eowyn.
The Met Office has issued several yellow, amber and rare red warnings as Storm Eowyn brings winds of more than 100mph and torrential rain.
At present, the M25 in Kent is closed anti-clockwise between J3 (M20 J1/Swanley) and J2 (Dartford) following a collision.
BBC Strictly fans slam live tour bosses over Storm Eowyn statement as red weather warning forces show axe
The Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour has cancelled its Friday performance at Glasgow’s OVO Hydro due to severe weather warnings for Storm Eowyn.
The show has been rescheduled following the Met Office’s rare red alert for Friday, with forecasts predicting wind speeds of up to 100mph in some parts of Scotland.
The performance was set to be one of three planned shows at the Glasgow venue, but organisers were forced to postpone due to safety concerns as the storm approaches.
Wind speeds reach 93mph in north Wales
The Met Office said a gust of 93mph has been recorded at Aberdaron in Gwynedd, north Wales.
The strongest gust ever recorded in the UK is 142 mph, at Fraserburgh in Aberdeenshire in eastern Scotland, on February 13, 1989.
Red warnings are in place in Northern Ireland from 7am until 2pm on Friday, and for western and central areas of Scotland between 10am and 5pm, with speeds of up to 100mph likely along coasts, 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 60 to 70mph will be widespread in these areas, with up to 90mph possible on coastal areas.
Edinburgh ‘like a ghost town’ as red alert comes into place in Scotland
Princes Street, Edinburgh during Storm Eowyn
PA
Residents in Edinburgh have said the city is “apocalyptic” as the red alert for wind has come into place.
Martin Pyke told GB News: “Edinburgh is like a ghost town, Princes Street is usually a bustling hub of commerce and tourism on a Friday, but today it’s apocalyptic. It’s really windy.”
Flights at Edinburgh Airport have been grounded, with commuters in Central and West Scotland urged not to travel.
Residents in Scotland urged not to travel as mainland braces for Storm Eowyn
Scotland’s Deputy First Minister has urged Scots in the central belt to follow the advice not to travel.
Appearing on the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme, Kate Forbes said: “It is so important that people follow Police Scotland’s advice not to travel because if people stay at home and don’t travel then it means they don’t invite that risk to themselves.”
Forbes also warned that recovery from Storm Eowyn could “take longer than we all hope.”
“It is important our expectations are managed by how quickly things can return to normal and there may well be continuing disruption tomorrow.”
Northern rail services hit with widespread disruption across Greater Manchester and Yorkshire
Train operator Northern said many of its routes are closed because of severe weather.
Some lines are blocked between Manchester Oxford Road and Warrington Central because of a fallen tree.
Services on these routes are also being disrupted by severe weather: Between Bradford Forster Square and Ilkley; Bradford Forster Square and Skipton; Leeds and Bradford Forster Square; Leeds and Ilkley; and Leeds and Skipton.
WATCH: GB News reporter Dougie Beattie battered by storm Eowyn as he reports from Northern Ireland
Dougie Beattie updates us on the weather in Northern Ireland as forecasters have warned of a ‘threat to life’ as Storm Eowyn sweeps through Britain.
Dougie told GB News viewers: “The winds are definitely picking up as we speak. The worst of it due to hit here in the next probably 20 minutes, and then it will stay there by 3:00 this afternoon.”
Stormont deputy First Minister urges people to stay at home
The Deputy First Minister at Stormont Emma Little-Pengelly has urged residents in Northern Ireland to stay at home as Storm Eowyn makes landfall.
The DUP MLA for Langan Valley told the BBC: “The strong advice is to stay home.
“And that’s important, of course, because if people go out, the risk to life is from debris because of the high winds, if people go out and get into a situation, then that is calling out those essential workers that are there.
“We don’t want people to have to come out to deal with those. So we are advising everybody stays at home. There’s a significant outage on the electricity.”
‘Half a million premises’ without power in Ireland
Officials in Ireland have reported that more than half a million premises in Ireland are without power.
There has been “unprecedented widespread and extensive damage” due to Storm Eowyn.
Residents are being advised not to approach any fallen wires or damaged electricity network infrastructure and contact the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) as soon as possible.
Rail services and flights cancelled across the country
A road sign displaying a red weather warning for Friday on Calder Road, Edinburgh
PA
Rail services and flights have been axed, with rare red weather warnings issued for Scotland and Northern Ireland as Storm Eowyn is likely to damage buildings, uproot trees and cause power cuts, the Met Office said.
Train operator ScotRail suspended all services across Scotland on Friday, saying it “would not be safe to operate passenger services due to forecast weather conditions.”
Dozens of flights from Glasgow and Edinburgh airports were cancelled on Friday morning due to ongoing weather conditions, while Belfast International warned of significant disruption to flights.
A number of train companies including Avanti West Coast, Lumo, CrossCountry and Grand Central have also told customers not to travel on routes across parts of north Wales, Scotland and northern England with no services running.
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