London weather latest: Wind alerts for capital as Storm Herminia brings 83mph gusts to UK

Yahoo

27-01-2025

London is bracing itself for more stormy weather on Monday, as Storm Herminia hits the UK bringing winds of up to 80mph.
Yellow weather warnings for wind and rain are in place covering large swathes of southern England, while the capital could see gusts of up to 45mph at the start of the week.
The Met Office has warned the damage could be more widespread due to the impact of Storm Eowyn last week, causing 'injuries and danger to life'.
Follow the latest on Storm Herminia on the Standard's live coverage
Localised flooding and delays to road and rail travel, as well as possible power cuts are expected, the Met Office has warned.
More than 40 flood alerts have been issued by the Environment Agency, covering the south coast, as forecasters have warned of up to 80mm of rain in some areas.
Severe disruption has been caused to the railways, as National Rail has reported issues between Guildford and Ash, East Croydon and Uckfield, Reading and Taunton and Hastings. Passengers have been advised to check their route before they travel.
It comes after Storm Eowyn battered the country last week, particularly areas of Northern Ireland and Scotland, where record-breaking wind speeds of up to 100mph were reported.
Strong winds were linked to two deaths throughout the UK in recent days, the first occurring when a falling tree hit a 19-year-old's blue Ford Focus in Mauchline, East Ayrshire, at about 6.45am on Friday.
In the second, Kacper Dudek, 20, died after a tree fell on his car at Feddyglass, Raphoe in County Donegal, Northern Ireland, early on Friday.
A warning for periods of heavy rain that could cause some flooding of roads and properties are in place for the West Midlands and most of Wales until 11.59pm today, with the Met Office predicting 20mm to 40mm to fall quite widely and 50mm to 70mm on higher ground.
Okehampton in Devon had 35.8mm of rain on Sunday, while an 83mph gust was recorded in Berry Head, south Devon, and 81mph in Capelcurig, North Wales.
A yellow wind warning was in place until 7am on Monday for large parts of southern England, the North West, the West Midlands and Yorkshire.Flooding saw stretches of the A36 and A303 closed in Devon and Wiltshire overnight, while National Rail said services were running normally between Taunton and Castle Cary after flooding.
Scotland is still recovering from the effects of Storm Eowyn. ScotRail said engineers had made "great progress" in removing debris and repairing damage, but several lines were unlikely to reopen for the start of services on Monday.
The Largs to Adrossan line will not reopen on Monday after an overhead gantry was brough down by a falling tree.
Avanti West Coast said services to and from Glasgow and Edinburgh had resumed, but warned of late starts and possible delays on Scottish routes.
Northern Ireland Electricity Networks said around 74,000 customers remained without power at the end of Sunday following Storm Eowyn, while the Northern Powergrid said teams were working to reconnect more than 150 customers overnight.
⚠️ NEW: #Uckfield - Disruption between East Croydon and Uckfield expected until 08:00https://t.co/a7ZDNj8aWl
— National Rail (@nationalrailenq) January 27, 2025
Ben Lukey, a flood duty manager at the Environment Agency, said: "Although not expected, impacts could include localised flooding from watercourses, drains, channels and flooding from overland flow. A wet and windy spell arrived in the South West on Sunday morning and was moving across the north of the UK overnight.'
Met Office meteorologist Marco Petagna said: "Things are going to stay unsettled in the next few days. We're getting successive spells of wet and windy weather, which is obviously adding to impactsWhile not as powerful as Storm Eowyn, a low-pressure system was named Storm Herminia by meteorologists in Spain which was expected to feel the strongest winds.'
The Met Office said Monday is expected to see showers, turning heavy in the south alongside strong, gale-force winds, with snow on the hills in the north.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan warned Londoners on Sunday to take care during the unsettled weather, writing online: 'Today there is a yellow warning for rain in London.
'Please take extra care and be aware of any standing water from rain overnight.'
Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said: "It's also going to be wet and windy over the next few days in southern parts of the UK in particular.
"In most parts of the UK we're going to have some very wet and at times also very windy weather over today and Monday.
"But from Tuesday onwards, I'm expecting it generally to stay fairly changeable, but some showers at times and quite windy, but not as disruptive as it has been - I think overall, probably warnings are less likely from Tuesday onwards.
"Certainly tonight in the south east of the UK, we could see some briefly very strong winds, and we could also see some very strong winds across Cornwall and Devon tomorrow in particular".
Coastal parts of those areas will "very likely" see 60mph to 70mph gusts.
Tuesday is forecast to see further heavy showers in the south with a risk of thunder. Longer spells of rain in the North West as expected to ease later.The wet and windy weather will remain in the south on Wednesday more settled conditions will be present later in the week.