A man has died in Ireland as the hurricane-force winds of Storm Eowyn continue to batter the British Isles.
Flights have been cancelled, major rail routes closed and ferry services axed again on Saturday after winds surpassing 100mph hit parts of the UK and Ireland throughout Friday. Millions have also been left without power across the UK and Ireland due to the vicious storm.
A rare red weather warning was lifted on Friday from Scotland and Northern Ireland, where Storm Eowyn damaged buildings, uprooted trees and caused power cuts.
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But the Met Office has issued weather warnings through until Monday, with a new low pressure system set to take hold over the weekend, moving in from the southwest as Storm Eowyn passes.
Snow and ice warnings are in force on Saturday across Northern Ireland and nearly all of mainland Scotland until 11am, while an ice warning covers large parts of England and Wales.
The whole of Scotland is also subject to a warning until 3pm over potentially life-threatening winds.
Forecasters are warning of flying debris resulting in danger to life, and travel disruption including flight cancellations are set to continue in areas affected by weather warnings.
There may also be further power cuts and continued damage to buildings and homes, the forecaster added.
As the influence of Storm Eowyn diminishes as the system moves north and east on Saturday morning, an area of low pressure arriving from the southwest will bring significant rain on Sunday, the Met Office says.
A yellow rain warning covering southern and central England and Wales will be in place from 8am on Sunday to 6am on Monday.
Some places could see up to 80mm of rainfall over the period from two separate spells of heavy rain and thundery showers, while 10 to 20mm should fall quite widely and 30 to 50mm could fall over high ground, the Met Office said.
Flooding to homes and businesses could occur in the warning area, with power cuts and difficult driving conditions also possible. There is also a “small chance” of fast flowing or deep floodwater causing danger to life, the Met Office said.
As of Saturday morning, there were 33 flood alerts in England – meaning flooding is possible – and two more severe flood warnings, where flooding is expected.
Up to 20mm of rain is expected to fall widely on Sunday in areas under a yellow rain warning, which will cover most of the Midlands, Wales and southern England from 8am on Sunday until 6am on Monday. Flooding, travel disruption and power cuts are possible in the affected areas.
Another yellow wind warning will also be introduced for southwest and northwest England, Wales and Northern Ireland, lasting from 8am until 3pm on Sunday.
Met Office meteorologist Jonathan Vautrey said: “Looking at Sunday, it’s set to be a fairly fine start for a lot of areas – another ridge of high pressure building in to keep things fairly settled, with some sunny spells in there.
“The cloud, though, is going to be building as we see a low pressure system move into the South West. This will be bringing heavy rain in for south-west England and Wales from sort of mid-morning onwards, and then that will spread into Northern Ireland and northern England as we head later on into the afternoon.
“Winds will also be picking up with this feature. Certainly, it’s not going to be as strong as Storm Eowyn. However, because it’s coming in from the South West, it’s going to be actually more southern areas of England that are going to see the strongest wind gusts compared to what has mostly been further towards the north.”
