LONDON — Residents in Ireland and northern parts of the United Kingdom were advised to remain indoors on Friday as violent winds equivalent to hurricane speeds knocked out power lines and caused significant travel delays.
Meteorologists issued an unusual “red” weather alert, indicating a serious threat to life, across all of Ireland and parts of central and southwestern Scotland.
Ireland experienced wind gusts recorded at 114 mph (183 kph), marking the strongest winds since the end of World War II, as a winter tempest surged in from the Atlantic before making landfall in Scotland.
Due to the severe weather, schools were closed, and transportation services including trains, ferries, and over 1,000 flights were canceled across the Republic of Ireland and the U.K., reaching as far south as London Heathrow. The storm, dubbed Storn Éowyn by meteorological experts, was expected to move rapidly and dissipate by late Friday evening, clearing Scotland’s coastal regions.
City centers, including Dublin, Belfast, and Glasgow, were notably silent, mirroring the quiet seen at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, as businesses shut their doors and citizens adhered to safety recommendations to stay inside. For those who ventured outdoors, bracing against the strong winds proved challenging.
“Please stay at home if possible,” urged Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill in an interview with BBC Radio Ulster. “We are currently experiencing the worst of the storm during this red alert period.”
In Edinburgh, the Scottish Parliament closed its doors, with Scottish First Minister John Swinney asserting: “It is imperative that people refrain from traveling.”
In terms of power outages, over 700,000 residences and businesses across Ireland were without electricity, along with nearly 100,000 in Northern Ireland, resulting from “unprecedented, widespread, and extensive” damage to the electrical grid, according to the Irish Electricity Supply Board. More than 20,000 customers in Scotland were also reported to be without power.
Ireland’s national weather service, Met Eireann, confirmed that the strongest gusts of 114 mph were recorded at Mace Head on the west coast, surpassing the previous record of 113 mph (182 kph) established in 1945.
Wind speeds in Scotland were forecasted to be slightly less intense but still posed significant risks, prompting authorities to advise vigilance, especially for those in coastal areas.
The storm’s strength partially stemmed from a weather system that previously caused record snowfall along the Gulf Coast of the United States, detailed Jason Nicholls, the lead international meteorologist at AccuWeather.
The storm is being driven by the jet stream and is receiving energy from upper atmospheric levels. A sharp drop in atmospheric pressure is anticipated, which could transform Éowyn into a bomb cyclone. This occurs when the pressure of a storm declines by 24 millibars within a 24-hour window.
Experts acknowledge that ascertaining the precise role of climate change in such storms is complex; however, it is recognized that all storms are forming in an atmosphere rapidly heating due to greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide and methane.
“With the climate warming, it is likely we will see these storms intensifying, leading to more significant damages,” stated Hayley Fowler, a climate change impact professor at Newcastle University.
