Storm Elin was named by Ireland’s Met Eireann this morning, prompting their UK colleagues with the Met Office to issue an urgent warning. The agency has told people to stay “weather aware” as “strong winds and heavy rain” pour over the country this Saturday.
The storm was first named by the Met Eireann, today, with “very windy” storm conditions expected for Ireland. Met Éireann said: “Very windy or stormy today with sustained high westerly winds developing due to Storm Elin with some severe or damaging gusts are expected.
“Sunny spells and blustery showers will develop mainly over the southern half of the country. Cloudier further north with rain mostly confined to Ulster, north Connacht and north Leinster. Highest temperatures of 8 to 12 degrees.
“Tonight, strong and gusty westerly winds will ease for a time with mostly clear weather following for much of the night. Rain will however affect northern fringes early on, and later in the night, outbreaks of rain and freshening southerly winds will move into Connacht and Munster. Lowest temperatures of three to seven degrees.”
The Met Office has issued its own warnings for the UK as Elin’s hundred-mile wall of rain washes over the UK. The maps have captured a sweeping mass of rain tipping out several inches of water over the country per hour, with a wintry onslaught leaving few regions untouched.
Yellow alerts issued by the Met Office cover several hundred miles, from Cornwall in the south to the outskirts of Glasgow in the north. They cover several dozen areas in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, where Britons have been warned to expect flooding.
Maps posted by forecasters at WXCharts show rain moving in from the west this morning and sweeping the entire country through Saturday, moving southwest from England to Scotland. The rain will primarily fall in showers, mostly light, but driven by heavy wind.
The Met Office has issued five yellow warnings, two for wind and three for rain, showing the extent of stormy conditions inbound this morning. The largest alert shows heavy wind on a coast-to-coast path, where it could reach gale force speeds.
The wind warning, which covers the entirety of Wales and much of the English west coast to Norwich and Hull, states: “Winds will increase in the west during Saturday morning then across other areas through the afternoon. Gusts of 45 to 55 mph are likely quite widely, with 60-70 mph possible along Irish Sea coasts. Winds then easing slowly from the west through the evening.”
And the alerts for rain state that up to an inch could fall in less than 24 hours, into the early morning on Sunday, December 10. The warning for rain over Scotland and northern England states: “A band of rain, heavy at times, will move eastwards across the area this morning, clearing by around midday. 10 to 20 mm (0.3 to 0.7 inches) is likely in places with perhaps 25 30 mm (0.8 to 1 inches) over hills and mountains, and falling onto already saturated ground. A drier interlude follows, but further heavy rain is expected this evening as bands of showers sweep eastwards producing a further 20 to 30 mm, along with a risk of hail and thunder.”
