Following a weekend of stormy weather, the Met Office issued a ‘danger to life’ weather warning yesterday, on Monday 14 November. Yellow and amber warnings were issued for various parts of the UK as the new Storm Debi battered many areas with high winds and rain.
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The UK is unfortunately on a roll with all this bad weather, as Storm Ciaràn caused chaos at the beginning of the month and snow is expected to fall this winter. Now, the Met Office has extended their warning as thunderstorms are expected to cover areas of the UK. Here’s where forecasters expect the bad weather to hit and how bad the storm will be.
Where will thunderstorms hit?
The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning that started at 5AM today and is currently in place until noon. This means:
A band of squally, thundery rain is likely to push quickly east across the warning area through Tuesday morning.
The area affected covers most of southern England, from Plymouth to London. The Met Office has stated that people in these areas can expect ‘sudden, torrential downpours’.
How bad will the weather be?
Storm Debi has already caused a significant amount of havoc, especially in Northern Ireland where roads were closed and public transport was disrupted. In the Republic of Ireland, red weather warnings were in place as thousands of homes lost power and schools were forced to close. Indeed, the Irish national director for fire and emergency management said Storm Debi, the fourth named storm of the season, is ‘probably the most intense storm’ we’ve had so far.
As for the UK, there is a chance of damage to buildings from lightning strikes and gale force winds today. As of 9AM, The Independent reported several issues with trains due to a landslip between Darlington and Newcastle and fallen overhead wires on the main line between Leeds and Wakefield Westgate in Yorkshire. National Rail has said:
Disruption is expected for the rest of the day.
However, there are no other weather warnings in place for the rest of the week. Hopefully this means that the worst of the storm will be over today and the UK will have a moment to catch its breath.
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Sources used:
Met Office: Weather warnings
Independent: Storm Debi – live: London thunderstorm weather alert as Met Office warns of building damage
BBC: Storm Debi: Thunderstorm warning in place for parts of England
