The Met Office has warned that Storm Herminia which is set to batter the UK – just days after Storm Éowyn left two dead last week – will bring wind and heavy rain that threatens the possibility of injuries and “danger to life”.
Several yellow weather warnings have been issued that cover the majority of England, while Northern Ireland, Wales and southern Scotland are also expected to be hit with heavy rain.
A weather warning for “strong and gusty” winds is in place from 6am on Monday until 6am tomorrow, bringing with it likely delays to road, rail, air and ferry services, short-term losses of power and other services.
Gusts of 60-70mph are possible near the coasts with gusts of 50mph possible inland.
Commuters are being advised to check before they travel – specifically for those using ScotRail, Transport for Wales, CrossCountry, LNER, Avanti West Coast and TransPennine Express services.
A yellow warning for periods of heavy rain, blustery showers and possible thunderstorms – that could cause flooding of roads and properties in the West Midlands and most of Wales – is also currently in place until midnight on Monday. The Met Office expects 20mm to 40mm of rain to fall quite widely and 50mm to 70mm on higher ground.
On Sunday morning, 83mph winds were recorded in Berry Head, Devon, while 81mph was recorded in Capelcurig, North Wales. Meanwhile, seven American students were rescued off the coast of western Wales by the RNLI after becoming stranded on a tidal island in stormy conditions.
Storm Herminia first hit parts of Spain and France, where the Spanish weather service recorded gusts exceeding 62mph. Floodwaters caused by the storm also left cars and buildings submerged in western France.
A British sailor is also missing off the French coast after his yacht was found “eviscerated”, according to French authorities.
Aemet named Storm Hermina, but it is not powerful enough over the UK to be named a storm by the Met Office, unlike the far more powerful Éowyn, which left a trail of destruction and disruption after causing several rare red weather warnings.
The Met Office has described Éowyn as “probably the strongest storm” to hit the UK in at least 10 years. A 19-year-old died in Shropshire and a 20-year-old man was killed in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland, after trees fell on their cars.
At the storm’s height, nearly a million people were without power across the British Isles, with thousands still without power on Sunday after widespread damage to electricity infrastructure in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
East of England
Central Bedfordshire
Essex
Hertfordshire
Luton
Southend-on-Sea
Suffolk
Thurrock
London & South East England
Bracknell Forest
Brighton and Hove
Buckinghamshire
East Sussex
Greater London
Hampshire
Isle of Wight
Kent
Medway
Oxfordshire
Portsmouth
Reading
Slough
Southampton
Surrey
West Berkshire
West Sussex
Windsor and Maidenhead
Wokingham
South West England
Wales
Blaenau Gwent
Bridgend
Caerphilly
Cardiff
Carmarthenshire
Ceredigion
Conwy
Gwynedd
Merthyr Tydfil
Monmouthshire
Neath Port Talbot
Newport
Pembrokeshire
Powys
Rhondda Cynon Taf
Swansea
Torfaen
Vale of Glamorgan
West Midlands
