More weather warnings issued as 80mph gusts recorded in south west England

Gusts of 80mph have been recorded in south-west England amid further wind and rain warnings in the wake of Storm Eowyn.

A new weather front has arrived in the South West and will move northwards across England and Wales during Sunday.

An 82mph gust was recorded in Predannack, south Cornwall, on Sunday morning.

Areas that bore the brunt of Storm Eowyn will “generally fare a little bit better” but there will be some snow across higher ground in Scotland, the Met Office said.

Two men died in separate incidents where a falling tree struck their cars during Storm Eowyn.

A tree hit a 19-year-old’s blue Ford Focus at about 6.45am on Friday in Mauchline, East Ayrshire, and he died the following day, Police Scotland said.

An amber weather warning was in place in that area at the time.

Scottish First Minister John Swinney offered his condolences to the man’s family and friends.

He said in a statement shared on X, formerly Twitter: “This is tragic and heartbreaking news. Our thoughts and sympathies are with the family and friends of the man who has died.”

Kacper Dudek, 20, died after a tree fell on his car at Feddyglass, Raphoe in Co Donegal, early on Friday and Irish police are investigating the incident.

Yellow warnings for wind and rain have been issued for much of the south of the UK during Sunday and Monday.

Spanish meteorologists have dubbed the low-pressure system Storm Herminia, as the European country will feel the strongest winds.

Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said: “It’s also going to be wet and windy over the next few days in southern parts of the UK in particular.

“In most parts of the UK we’re going to have some very wet and at times also very windy weather over today and Monday.

“But from Tuesday onwards, I’m expecting it generally to stay fairly changeable, but some showers at times and quite windy, but not as disruptive as it has been – I think overall, probably warnings are less likely from Tuesday onwards.

“Certainly tonight in the south east of the UK, we could see some briefly very strong winds, and we could also see some very strong winds across Cornwall and Devon tomorrow in particular”.

Coastal parts of those areas will “very likely” see 60mph to 70mph gusts.

There may also be very localised 70mph to 80mph gusts in the South East during Sunday night.

A yellow wind warning is in place across Northern Ireland until 7pm on Sunday, another is active until 5pm that day in southern parts of the UK, south-west Scotland, and Wales.

A further yellow wind warning runs between 10pm on Sunday and 7am on Monday and covers large parts of the southern England, the north west, West Midlands and Yorkshire.

Gusts of 55-65mph are possible overnight and there is a small chance they could reach 80mph, the Met Office said.

All three warn of potential disruption.

A yellow warning for periods of heavy rain that could cause some flooding of roads and properties had been issued for the west Midlands and most of Wales until 11.59pm on Monday.

The Met Office expects 20mm to 40mm to fall quite widely and 50mm to 70mm on higher ground.

Another for heavy rain, thundery showers and some localised flooding is active for parts of central and southern England until 6am on Monday.

It is forecast that 10mm to 20mm of rain will fall quite widely, nearing 30mm to 50mm at greater altitude.

Further heavy rain on Sunday evening could bring it up to 80mm in a few places.

Ben Lukey, a flood duty manager at the Environment Agency, said: “Spells of heavy rain mean surface water and river flooding is possible across parts of England on Sunday, overnight into Monday.

“Although not expected, impacts could include localised flooding from watercourses, drains, channels and flooding from overland flow.

“The risk of coastal flooding remains very low. However, we urge people to stay away from exposed areas on beaches, promenades, coastal footpaths and roads where large waves and sea spray could be dangerous.”

He warned people not to drive through flood water as 30cm of flowing water is enough to float a car.

Ministers from across the UK held an emergency Cobra meeting on Saturday to co-ordinate recovery efforts, and extra engineers were dispatched from England to Northern Ireland and Scotland.

NIE (Northern Ireland Electricity) Networks said that at midday on Sunday about 75,000 of its customers remained without electricity after Storm Eowyn, and 210,000 properties had been reconnected.

By the same time more than 14,080 SP Energy Networks customers were still off-grid, though power had been restored to more than 220,000.

It has took 69,000 calls during Storm Eowyn, equivalent to two months of calls in two days.

Published: 26/01/2025 by Radio NewsHubClick here to read this story in full at Radio News Hub