LONDON — On Friday, millions throughout Ireland and northern regions of the United Kingdom took heed of government warnings, choosing to remain indoors as hurricane-strength winds wreaked havoc, disrupting travel and knocking out power to many areas.
Forecasters had issued an unusual “red” weather warning, indicating a serious threat to life, which affected the entire island of Ireland as well as parts of central and southwest Scotland.
Ireland was the first to feel the full impact of the storm, registering wind gusts reaching 114 mph (183 kph), the highest recorded since World War II, as a winter tempest barreled in from the Atlantic before heading toward Scotland.
Tragically, a man lost his life when a tree collapsed onto his vehicle in County Donegal, located in the northwest of Ireland, according to local law enforcement.
The storm was rapidly moving along and was expected to have dissipated over Scotland by late Friday.
Urban centers, including Dublin and Belfast, as well as Glasgow, were unusually quiet, reminiscent of the initial days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Shops were shuttered, and people largely listened to guidance to stay home, making it a challenge for those who braved the weather to remain upright against the fierce winds.
“I want to thank the public for mostly adhering to Police Scotland’s recommendation to avoid travel,” stated John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister.
Over a million households, farms, and businesses across both the island of Ireland and Northern Ireland faced power outages, while another 100,000 customers in Scotland were also reported without electricity as record wind speeds swept through the regions.
Schools were closed, and a myriad of transportation modes—including trains, ferries, and over 1,000 flights—were canceled not only in the Republic of Ireland but also throughout the U.K., reaching as far south as London Heathrow Airport. The storm, named Storm Éowyn by meteorological authorities, is expected to cause disturbances that will linger into Saturday.
ScotRail announced that significant damage to infrastructure had occurred due to the storm, necessitating thorough inspections and removal of debris before service could be safely resumed.
Ireland’s national meteorological service, Met Éireann, recorded the astonishing wind gusts of 114 mph early on Friday at Mace Head on the country’s west coast, which surpassed the previous record of 113 mph (182 kph) set in 1945. Wind speeds in Scotland were somewhat lower throughout the day, but still remained at historically high levels.
Experts noted that part of the storm’s intensity was derived from a weather system that caused historic snowfall along the Gulf Coast of the United States, according to Jason Nicholls, the lead international forecaster for a private weather service.
Storm Éowyn developed into a bomb cyclone, characterized by a rapid drop in pressure by 24 millibars within a 24-hour period, as it delivered fierce winds and heavy rains to Ireland and the U.K. Winds across the ocean experience less friction compared to land surfaces, such as hills, enabling them to reach extraordinary speeds.
Meteorologists pointed out that the storm’s potency led to the formation of a sting jet, a narrow corridor of winds exceeding 100 mph (161 kph) that descends from the mid-troposphere to the surface, typically lasting for a few hours.
While it’s uncertain whether the intense 114 mph (183 kph) gusts reported in Ireland are connected to the sting jet phenomenon, experts indicated that it appears characteristic of such events.
“It’s difficult to ascertain until data is thoroughly analyzed, but it certainly looks like it could be the work of a sting jet,” Nicholls explained.
Researchers contend that pinpointing the precise effects of climate change on individual storms is complex; however, all storm activity occurs within a rapidly warming atmosphere influenced by human-caused pollutants like carbon dioxide and methane.
“As the planet continues to warm, these storms are likely to become increasingly severe, leading to more damage,” noted Hayley Fowler, a climate change impacts professor at Newcastle University.
