More than 250,000 UK homes have lost power and hundreds of flights have been canceled by storm Eunice, which is wreaking havoc in London, south-east England and parts of western Europe. The British Met Office has London and south-east England on red alert for strong winds from 10am, with gusts of up to 129km/h lashing the country. The storm is also affecting the Netherlands, France, Germany and Ireland.
A 120 mph gust on the Isle of Wight has just broken the all-time record for the highest wind speed ever recorded in England, the weather service said.
As of noon, power grid operators in the south of the UK reported that more than 230,000 homes, mainly on the outskirts of London, are without power. The storm is also disrupting flights and trains around the capital. The Heathrow airport Youtube channel is breaking records of visits to see maneuvering the planes that continue to dare to touch down in London.
At London City Airport, a favorite for business travelers due to its proximity to the central district, all scheduled arrivals and departures have been canceled until at least 4:00 p.m. At Heathrow, the largest in London, there were already 112 cancellations until noon, according to the FlightAware flight tracking website.
The UK government’s emergency committee, known as Cobra, will meet this afternoon to discuss the response to the storm.
transport interruptions
For its part, the operator of the railway infrastructure, National Rail, warned that the storm would cause serious damage to train operators. There are warnings not to travel on the South, South East, Thameslink and Great Northern networks due to high winds. All services in Wales have also been cancelled, with ferry operators suspending several trips to Ireland. Crossings between Dover and Calais in France are canceled until further notice. “We expect it to stay that way for most of the day,” P&O Ferries said on Twitter.
In London, several tube lines experienced severe delays or partial suspensions due to track obstructions, with the operator, Transport for London, advising travel only for essential purposes.
The bright side of the storm is that it is, if nothing else, providing some relief to the electricity market by boosting wind turbines at rates never seen before. By the end of the storm, on Sunday, the UK could see record wind production. However, the powerful gusts have meant that some wind farms have to stop part of their production, since many turbines are turned off when the wind speed exceeds 90km / h to protect the machinery.
The scientists said these types of “superstorms” are not likely to become more severe or frequent due to climate change. But rising global temperatures mean the atmosphere can hold more water and sea levels are rising, increasing the risk of flooding when there are extreme weather events like this. The winds could be further affected by global warming in the second half of the century, depending on how much the planet’s average temperature has risen by then.
Effects in Europe
Before reaching Great Britain, the storm has passed through Ireland. More than 80,000 homes and businesses have lost power on the island, utility company ESB Networks said. There, the record that has been recorded is 172km/h at a lighthouse off the south coast, the Irish Met Office said.
Storm Eunice is also impacting continental Europe. Schiphol airport in Amsterdam registers 299 cancellations, more than any other. All Dutch train services were suspended after 2:00 p.m. due to strong winds.
Five departments in northern France are on orange alert for strong winds and flooding. TER trains in the Nord, Pas-de-Calais and Somme departments were no longer running as of midday, although high-speed TGV services and lines to Paris were largely unaffected.
Facebook Comments
Disqus