A tornado warning has been issued for England and Wales as Storm Isha continues to batter the nation with wind speeds hitting up to 90mph.
Rush-hour trains remain axed for many and roads were closed overnight due to the heavy winds. A red weather warning was issued for parts of Scotland but has since passed.
However, amber and yellow weather warnings remain in force for large parts of the United Kingdom. Meanwhile the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (Torro) said a tornado is “possible” in England and Wales.
Torro says there could be isolated tornadoes, hail, and strong winds because of Storm Isha. A tornado watch is in place for parts of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (Torro) said a tornado is “possible” in England and Wales.
Torro said: “A powerful Atlantic storm, named Isha by the UK Met Office will affect the RoI and UK later on Sunday and overnight into Monday morning. A cold front will push NE and E across all areas through this period. A tornado watch covers the RoI, N Ireland, parts of Scotland and a small part of N England, and the IoM.
“The main upper forcing will be mostly to the north and north-west of the area, but some upper forcing will still be present, and a short-wave may cross the area overnight too. One or two broken lines of rain will spread across the area, bringing the risk of strong wind gusts (70-80mph), given the very strong 850 hPa flow.”
Met Office forecaster Marco Petagna told the PA news agency “the odd isolated tornado” was possible in western regions. Damage to homes and buildings, falling trees, power cuts, flying debris, large waves and even some flooding in places should be expected into Monday morning, it was warned.
Agencies across Cumbria declared themselves on standby for a major incident, with Sellafield nuclear site closing as a precaution on Sunday. Someone was struck by falling debris after scaffolding became dislodged in Belfast. They were treated at the scene by emergency services.
Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said: “We’re expecting widespread gales to affect the UK, amber warnings are in place for large parts of the country. There’s the potential for danger-to-life and damaging winds potentially leading to some power cuts in places, some large waves around coastal regions could bring some debris onto roads and trees could come down.”
He added: “We have a wind warning in place across the whole of the UK, it’s pretty unusual for the whole of the country to be under a blanket wind warning.”
The Met Office said “everybody” has been affected by the storm. Network Rail imposed 50mph speed limits yesterday with more disruption expected today.
