Potential windstorm to eye Ireland, western UK
By
Mary Gilbert, AccuWeather meteorologist
Updated Dec 15, 2020 2:35 PM EDT
The beach at Byron Bay in New South Wales, Australia, was eroded by storms brought on by king tides on Dec. 14, causing a walkway to collapse into the sea.
A rapidly developing storm will bring the threat of damaging winds and locally heavy rain to portions of Ireland and the United Kingdom at midweek.
An area of low pressure will track generally northeastward across the North Atlantic Ocean and approach the European continent on Tuesday. As it makes its closest approach later Tuesday, this low pressure will strengthen and gain wind and rain intensity.
Strong, damaging winds will arrive first across southern Ireland and coastal southwestern United Kingdom by late Tuesday evening. Damaging winds will spread north and eastward overnight Tuesday and reach Northern Ireland and coastal northwestern England by dawn on Wednesday morning.
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During this timeframe, strong winds will also arrive across northwestern France.
"Wind gusts of 50-60 mph (80-97 km/h) are expected across Ireland, the western coast of the United Kingdom and coastal northwest France, with the AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 70 mph (113 km/h)," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty said.
"The highest gusts are likely to occur along southern coast of Ireland, southwestern coast of England and coast of Wales," Douty added.
Along with gusty to damaging winds, this storm system will spread rain across Ireland, much of the United Kingdom and extreme northwestern France. This rain can be heavy at times and may lead to localized flash flooding issues.
While the strongest wind gusts from this storm are not expected to reach central and eastern portions of the United Kingdom Tuesday night and Wednesday, breezy to borderline blustery conditions are still in store for London. Residents of southeastern England who need to be out and about during the day Wednesday should still be sure to pack an umbrella and raincoat.
As the storm interacts with land during the day Wednesday, it will begin to lose intensity.
"As the storm moves northward across the western British Isles Tuesday night into Wednesday, the intensity of the storm will drop which will end the damaging wind threat by Wednesday evening," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty said.
Where the strongest winds batter the southern coast of Ireland, the southwestern coast of England and the coast of Wales, significant wind damage will be possible.
Impacts will range from tree damage and coastal flooding for exposed coasts to power outages, vehicle damage, road closures and transportation delays.
Whether or not this storm on Tuesday night and Wednesday is actually classified as a windstorm and given a name will likely be the decision of either Met Éireann, the Irish National Meteorological Service or the Met Office. If either of these two entities are to name this storm, it will be called Storm Bella.
So far this season, there have been three named windstorms to impact the European continent. The first of the season, Storm Alex, was named by Meteo France back in early October. Storm Barbara was named by Spain's AEMet in mid-October. The most recent European windstorm, Storm Aiden, was named on 31 Oct. by the Met Office.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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News / Weather Forecasts
Potential windstorm to eye Ireland, western UK
By Mary Gilbert, AccuWeather meteorologist
Updated Dec 15, 2020 2:35 PM EDT
The beach at Byron Bay in New South Wales, Australia, was eroded by storms brought on by king tides on Dec. 14, causing a walkway to collapse into the sea.
A rapidly developing storm will bring the threat of damaging winds and locally heavy rain to portions of Ireland and the United Kingdom at midweek.
An area of low pressure will track generally northeastward across the North Atlantic Ocean and approach the European continent on Tuesday. As it makes its closest approach later Tuesday, this low pressure will strengthen and gain wind and rain intensity.
Strong, damaging winds will arrive first across southern Ireland and coastal southwestern United Kingdom by late Tuesday evening. Damaging winds will spread north and eastward overnight Tuesday and reach Northern Ireland and coastal northwestern England by dawn on Wednesday morning.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
During this timeframe, strong winds will also arrive across northwestern France.
"Wind gusts of 50-60 mph (80-97 km/h) are expected across Ireland, the western coast of the United Kingdom and coastal northwest France, with the AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 70 mph (113 km/h)," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty said.
"The highest gusts are likely to occur along southern coast of Ireland, southwestern coast of England and coast of Wales," Douty added.
Along with gusty to damaging winds, this storm system will spread rain across Ireland, much of the United Kingdom and extreme northwestern France. This rain can be heavy at times and may lead to localized flash flooding issues.
While the strongest wind gusts from this storm are not expected to reach central and eastern portions of the United Kingdom Tuesday night and Wednesday, breezy to borderline blustery conditions are still in store for London. Residents of southeastern England who need to be out and about during the day Wednesday should still be sure to pack an umbrella and raincoat.
As the storm interacts with land during the day Wednesday, it will begin to lose intensity.
"As the storm moves northward across the western British Isles Tuesday night into Wednesday, the intensity of the storm will drop which will end the damaging wind threat by Wednesday evening," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty said.
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Where the strongest winds batter the southern coast of Ireland, the southwestern coast of England and the coast of Wales, significant wind damage will be possible.
Impacts will range from tree damage and coastal flooding for exposed coasts to power outages, vehicle damage, road closures and transportation delays.
Whether or not this storm on Tuesday night and Wednesday is actually classified as a windstorm and given a name will likely be the decision of either Met Éireann, the Irish National Meteorological Service or the Met Office. If either of these two entities are to name this storm, it will be called Storm Bella.
So far this season, there have been three named windstorms to impact the European continent. The first of the season, Storm Alex, was named by Meteo France back in early October. Storm Barbara was named by Spain's AEMet in mid-October. The most recent European windstorm, Storm Aiden, was named on 31 Oct. by the Met Office.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo