Met Office forecasts Storm Éowyn

Storm Éowyn, set to hit the UK this week, is explained in a Met Office video forecast, as yellow warnings for wind are expanded.

Transcript

00:00We're set to have some stormy weather to end the week. Storm Eowyn has been named and is

00:05heading towards us. The reason? Well, let's look at what's happening over in the US. Here

00:11we have some severe cold weather and this has led to quite a contrast in temperatures

00:16from north to south. And because of this contrast, the jet stream has strengthened. In its peak,

00:21it's around 250 miles per hour, so a very strong jet. And this then, this very strong

00:27jet is leading to an area of low pressure that is developing to the west of the Atlantic,

00:33but then as it pushes across the ocean, it's going to intensify, particularly as it crosses

00:37the jet stream as it heads towards the UK. It is going to deepen, so it is going to be

00:42a very deep area of low pressure, the centre around 950 hectopascals as it heads towards

00:48the UK. It's then going to push its way north-eastwards. A little bit of uncertainty as to the exact

00:54track it takes, but nonetheless, we can expect some very strong winds. Very strong gusts

00:59initially around the Republic of Ireland, but then into parts of Northern Ireland, and

01:03then for Northern and Western UK as well. Worth bearing in mind, around the actual low

01:08centre, we are going to see the winds dropping out for a little period of time, but both

01:12ahead of it, with the winds coming from the south-south-east, and then behind it, with

01:17the winds coming from the west or even north-west, we are going to have some strong winds, particularly

01:23to the south of the low. This is where we are going to have the strongest winds and

01:26where we are most likely to see the significant impacts. It does push through as we go through

01:31Friday and then clears away towards the north-east as we head into the weekend, but even still,

01:36we are going to continue with some very strong winds across north-eastern parts as we go

01:40through Saturday. Now, because of the very windy weather we can expect, we have already

01:45issued a number of yellow wind warnings. There's a large wind warning covering pretty much

01:50all of the UK. We are talking of gusts of 50-60mph quite widely, 60-70mph around exposed

01:57areas, so high ground, coasts, and around western parts of Scotland we could see gusts

02:02of around 80mph perhaps. But it's in this area, parts of Northern Ireland, Southern

02:07Scotland, Northern England and north-west Wales where we are likely or we could see

02:12the greatest impacts. That's because they are here, there is the potential for gusts

02:16of around 80-90mph along coastal areas. Now, with these kinds of winds, there is the risk

02:22of damage to property, flying debris, trees could be blown down, power outages and severe

02:27travel disruption. So, definitely worth staying up to date with the forecast. These warnings

02:32are likely to change as we get nearer to the event and there is a chance we may need to

02:36escalate them.