Two storms recently names by the Met Office are expected to buffet the UK with heavy winds and potentially even bring about snow later in the week for parts of Northern Ireland, Northern England, and Southern Scotland.

Storm Dudley is expected to impact the Northern half of the UK from Wednesday afternoon, closely followed by Storm Eunice which will bring strong winds to affect more southerly and central areas. The severe weather has brought about the issuing of amber and yellow warnings.

The Chief Meteorologist for The Met Office, Frank Saunders, had this to say;

“An active jet stream is helping to drive low-pressure systems across the country, with both storms set to cause some disruption and National Severe Weather Warnings have been issued… Significant disruption is possible from both Storm Dudley and Storm Eunice with strong winds one of the main themes of the current forecast. The most impactful winds from Dudley will be in the north on Wednesday afternoon, as shown in the amber warning area. Storm Eunice is expected to track eastwards from early on Friday, bringing the most significant winds to the central and southern areas of the UK, with some gusts possible in excess of 95mph in exposed coastal areas.”

Strong winds will cross from Northern Ireland and Western Scotland on Wednesday afternoon, eventually pushing eastwards to Northern England later in the day. It is expected that winds could reach up to 80mph in some exposed coastal area. Further in land, the winds are expected to be slightly lower – reaching 60-70mph.

The wind comes with a yellow warning being issued for most of central and northern areas of the UK, including Northern Ireland. Southern and western Scotland have had an amber warning issued, so too has the north coast of Northern Ireland and northern England – who are likely to face the most disruptive and dangerous winds. It is possible to follow tracked impacts from The Met Office twitter account; @MetOffice.

Warning signs for the UK

As already mentioned, yellow and amber warnings for wind have been issued for Storm Eunice – likely impacting much of the UK. The most severe effects will be felt in the south and west of the UK, with the amber warning taking effect from the early hours of Friday morning. The gusts are expected to be strong enough to knock over trees, damage buildings, and cause serious travel disruption.

The southern edge of Storm Eunice will bring the strongest winds and the north will bring the potential for some snow. A yellow warning for both wind and snow covers Northern Ireland, Northern England, and Southern Scotland where snow could build to depths of 20cm on high ground and 5cm in lower areas. The combination of wind and snow could cause blizzard-like conditions and snow drifts, making visibility poor and driving conditions dangerous.

Environment Agency Flood Duty Manager, Katharine Smith, had this to say;

“Strong winds could bring coastal flooding to parts of the west, southwest and south coast of England, as well as the tidal River Severn, in the early hours of Friday morning. This is due to Storm Eunice resulting in high waves and potential storm surge coinciding with the start of a period of spring tides… Please remember to take extreme care on coastal paths and promenades. We urge people to stay safe on the coast and warn wave watchers against the unnecessary danger of taking ‘storm selfies’. Flooding of low-lying coastal roads is also possible and people should avoid driving through flood water as just 30cm of flowing water is enough to move your car. .. You can check your flood risk, sign up for free flood warnings and keep up to date with the latest situation at https://www.gov.uk/check-flood-risk, call Floodline on 0345 988 1188 or follow @EnvAgency on Twitter for the latest flood updates.”‎

What is the current state of damage?

So far, thousands of people have been left without power following rain and winds buffeting parts of the North East, Cumbria, North Yorkshire, and Lancashire. The amber wind warning remains in place until midnight before a yellow wind warning from Thursday afternoon onwards into Friday as Storm Dudley dissipates and Storm Eunice arrives.

So far, parts of the Tyne and Wear Metro have been stopped due to storm damage while damaged wires overhead at Carlisle have blocked all lines towards Glasgow and Edinburgh, according to Avanti West Coast.

Northern Powergrid has had to leave people in an online queue for their website due to high demand, saying that the storm has caused above-typical levels of damage to the network. Assessments are now underway and estimates to restore power were subject to a little uncertainty.

The damage was so severe that 1,700 homes in Wigan were left without power, with Electricity North West sending engineers to deal with the issue caused by strong winds. About a thousand or so homes in Durham were left without access to electricity while dozens of smaller areas have been affected by pockets of outages.

The Tyne and Wear Metro has so far been suspended between Pelaw and South Shields due to a fallen tree on the line near Tyne Dock, and also between North Shields and Tynemouth due to a collapsed wall on a bridge – thought to be caused by the storm. Durham County Council has urged all drivers to take special care when driving, especially drivers of high-sided vehicles.

The bad news does not end here though, as the Environment Agency has three flood warnings in place from Wednesday evening at Keswick Campsite and at Litton Mill, Derbyshire, and 38 flood alerts in place where flooding is a distinct possibility.

The final warning is for the Cumbrian coastline from St Bees Head to Millom, and along the coast from North Head to Haverigg. The high tide on Wednesday could cause flooding close to midnight. Storm Dudley will bring with it strong winds, and thus large waves and spray that could damage vulnerable properties along the foreshore at Braystones, Nethertown, and Couldertown.

In Yorkshire, the famous Humber Bridge has been off-limits for high-sided vehicles and a number of trains between Leeds and London have been cancelled due to overhead power line damage. So far, wind has been measured as fast as 74mph at Emley Moore, between Huddersfield and Wakefield.

Any customers hoping to travel via London North Eastern Railway (LNER) with tickets for journeys between York or Leeds and London King’s Cross should be aware that the current advice is to bring their tickets forward to Thursday.

Emergency measures have led to a generator being installed at Jubilee Hall in Rothbury, Northumberland, should the village suffer power outages as they did previously with Storms Arwen and Malik. Police in Cumbria have said that a multi-agency response has been prepared to tackle any potential impact from the storms.

Contact Your Supplier Today

Storm Dudley and Storm Eunice have caused massive amounts of damage, as well as frustration for suppliers and customers alike. There have been numerous short-comings exposed in the communication practice of both suppliers and Distribution Network Operators (DNOs).

Things have not been made as clear as they should have been.

Luckily, at Energy Solutions – we believe in a better way of doing business. We compile dozens of free online resources for our customers, clients, and website visitors to use whenever things get tricky.

If you are struggling to find the details you need for your energy supplier, you can find out everything you need to know (and more) in our Supplier Index.

If you are finding it frustrating trying to reach out to your Distribution Network Operators, or simply do not know who they are – we have an online tool for that too! Simply head over to our Free Online Webpage to get things started.

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