‘Once in a generation’ Storm Eowyn hits UK with 100mph winds

Travel chaos and hundreds of thousands left without power as UK and Ireland hit by hurricane-force gusts

Holly Evans
Friday 24 January 2025 16:04 EST
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Storm Eowyn batters parts of Ireland

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Storm Eowyn has hit Britain and Ireland with “once in a generation” hurricane-force winds, cancelling more than 1,000 flights and leaving 600,000 homes and businesses without power as forecasters warn more is to come.

Residents in the worst-affected regions have described “crazy” weather conditions, as trees were felled, public transport was brought to a halt and high winds turned everyday objects into dangerous missiles. In County Donegal, a man died after a tree fell on his car.

The Met Office issued a rare red warning in Scotland, with people urged to remain indoors as the severe weather posed a potential danger to life.

A gust of 100mph was recorded at Drumalbin in South Lanarkshire early on Friday afternoon, while in Ireland records were broken after winds reached 114mph, with almost 1 million properties left without power.

Storm Eowyn has wreaked travel havoc and forced schools to shut
Storm Eowyn has wreaked travel havoc and forced schools to shut (PA)

Meanwhile, trains and ferries were suspended across Scotland and hundreds of schools were shut, with vehicles blown over and roads closed in some areas due to debris.

Severe weather conditions are set to continue over the weekend, with an amber weather warning in place on Saturday and further travel disruption expected.

BBC weather presenter Judith Ralston described Storm Eowyn as a “once in a generation” weather event, while Northern Ireland’s first minister Michelle O’Neill said the region was currently “in the eye of the storm”.

A feature of the storm is “sting jets” (very intense winds, often 100mph or more), which are caused by rapidly deepening areas of low pressure.

One in five flights to, from or between British and Irish airports were cancelled on Friday, affecting around 150,000 passengers, with Dublin, Edinburgh, Heathrow and Glasgow the worst hit.

Hundreds of passengers also spent hours on flights that returned to their points of departure after being unable to land at their destinations.

Ryanair flight RK596 from Stansted to Edinburgh reached the Scottish capital’s airport but could not touch down safely.

An information report at King’s Cross reporting delays and cancellations
An information report at King’s Cross reporting delays and cancellations (Yui Mok/PA Wire)

After circling over the Borders it returned to the Essex airport, landing two hours and 44 minutes after taking off.

Commuters were faced with chaos, with train operators ScotRail, Avanti West Coast, LNER, West Midlands Railway, Lumo, Transport for Wales and Southern Western Railway all forced to delay or cancel some services.

Motorists in areas covered by red and amber weather warnings have also been told to avoid travel “unless absolutely essential” and take extra caution on the roads.

National Highways said the A66 between the A1M in North Yorkshire and M6 in Cumbria, and the A628 Woodhead Pass in Derbyshire and South Yorkshire, were both closed overnight because of strong winds.

An ambulance attends the scene of a crash after strong winds on the north bound A19 in Durham
An ambulance attends the scene of a crash after strong winds on the north bound A19 in Durham (Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)

The Isle of Man’s Department of Infrastructure has declared a major incident because of the number of fallen trees and their impact on arterial roads emergency services, the government said on X/Twitter.

Hurricane-force winds are those that reach at least 74mph, according to the Beaufort scale, the Met Office said. Wind speeds reached up to 96mph in Brizlee Wood in Northumberland, and 93mph in Aberdaron in north Wales, with a red warning extended until 5pm for large parts of Scotland.

In order to prepare people for the storm, around 4.5 million people received emergency alerts on their phones, which has been described as the “largest real-life use of the tool to date”.

In Galway, several trees that had stood for over six decades were uprooted, with local residents describing the winds as “scary”, while an ice-skating rink in Dublin also had its roof blown away.

An ice-skating facility in Blanchardstown, Dublin, has been destroyed by Storm Eowyn
An ice-skating facility in Blanchardstown, Dublin, has been destroyed by Storm Eowyn (Brian Lawless/PA)

With authorities advising people to remain indoors in Scotland, judge Craig Revel Horwood announced the upcoming Strictly Come Dancing live show in Glasgow has been postponed until Sunday. He apologised for “any inconvenience this may cause” to the guests and confirmed the original tickets will remain valid for the new show.

SP Energy Networks said there are currently 20,000 customers across central and southern Scotland without power and the company said its engineers are working to restore supplies where possible.

A member of the public braves the wind in Edinburgh
A member of the public braves the wind in Edinburgh (Jane Barlow/PA)

Aileen Rourke, of SP Energy Networks, said: “We’ve seen wind speeds of almost 90mph with conditions remaining treacherous, hampering our ability to assess and repair damage.

“As soon as it is safe to do so, our engineers will be out in the field working to get the power back on for people as soon as we can.”

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) Distribution said as of 12.30pm, it had successfully restored power to 9,660 customers who had lost supplies since the storm began early on Friday.

It said there were 15,771 customers without power, and as the “extremely severe” storm continues to move across Scotland, it expects further disruption.

A further yellow wind warning covers the rest of UK for all of Friday.

An amber weather warning is in place for Scotland on Saturday
An amber weather warning is in place for Scotland on Saturday (PA Graphics)

Yellow warnings for snow are in place in Scotland, from 6am to midnight, and rain in southwest England and Wales until 9am.

In Northern Ireland, a yellow warning for snow and ice has been issued between 7pm Friday until 10am Saturday. More amber and yellow weather warnings for wind and rain have also been issued for across the weekend and on Monday.

On Saturday, an amber warning has been issued for northern Scotland, with strong winds likely to cause widespread distuption and damage to some buildings.

By Sunday, two yellow weather warning cover most of Wales, the north of Ireland and southwest England, and are due to last from 8am until 6am on Monday.

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