Latest news with #JoannaRobinson
Sky News
04-08-2025
- Climate
- Sky News
UK weather: Amber warning for thunderstorms comes into force for London and parts of southern England
An amber alert for thunderstorms is in place for London and most of southeast England, with forecasters warning of "torrential" rain. The Met Office has also issued yellow warnings for much of the rest of England, stating there's a risk of sudden flooding, travel delays and power cuts today. Scotland has a yellow warning for rain from 4pm today until midday on Sunday. Today's amber warning is in place for an area from Hampshire to Kent and up to Cambridge, including all of London, from 4am until 11am. Between 20 and 30mm of rain could fall in one hour in the amber warning zone, going up to 60 to 90mm in just a few hours where heavy downpours persist. According to the Met Office, some communities are "likely" to become cut off if roads flood, with flooded areas likely suffering cancellations to train and bus services, as well as power cuts. Flooding of homes and businesses is also "likely", according to the Met Office. It is the first amber warning to be issued for London since January last year. A separate yellow warning expands to most of England and some parts of southern Scotland until 9pm today. There is also a yellow warning coming into effect for rain for the southwest of England on Sunday at midday until 3am on Monday. Spray and flooding could cause road closures and even cut some communities off, the Met Office has said, adding that lightning strikes could damage buildings. Sky weather producer Joanna Robinson said: "Heavy, thundery rain will move in from France on Friday night, pushing northwards across much of England on Saturday, reaching Scotland later in the day. "The rain will be torrential in places, bringing up to 30mm in less than an hour, with 60-90 mm in less than three hours for some isolated spots." Recent dry weather could increase the risk of flash flooding, as torrential rain falling on hard, baked ground will run off rather than being easily soaked in. 2:17 Despite the rain, it will still be hot - with temperatures expected to reach the high 20s for much of England. It will remain unsettled on Sunday and into next week, Robinson added. "There'll be torrential rain for some, with further weather warnings likely when confidence in the detail improves," she said. "The unsettled conditions will continue early next week, but exactly where the worst of the storms will be is currently very uncertain. "There are signs that high pressure will help settle things down from the west on Wednesday." The wet weather comes as England is struggling with its driest start to a year since 1976. Across the country, rainfall was 20% less than the long-term average in June, which also saw two heatwaves rive unusually high demand for water, the Environment Agency said. 2:59 With national reservoir levels at 75.6% and currently continuing to fall, droughts have been declared in multiple regions.
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
UK weather: Thunderstorms ahead - but temperatures are set to remain high
Thunderstorms and heavy rain are set to hit the UK in the coming days – but temperatures will remain high. The Met Office has issued yellow warnings for much of England, stating there's a risk of sudden flooding, travel delays and power cuts on Friday and into Saturday. The first warning covers most of England and is in place for 9pm on Friday to 6pm on Saturday. The second - for parts of the East Midlands, North East England and Yorkshire and the Humber - is for 12pm to 8pm on and flooding could cause road closures and even cut some communities off, the Met Office has said, adding that lightning strikes could damage buildings. Sky weather producer Joanna Robinson said: "Heavy, thundery rain will move in from France on Friday night, pushing northwards across much of England on Saturday, reaching Scotland later in the day. "The rain will be torrential in places, bringing up to 30mm in less than an hour, with 60-90 mm in less than three hours for some isolated spots." Recent dry weather could increase the risk of flash flooding, as torrential rain falling on hard, baked ground will run off rather than being easily soaked in. Despite the rain, it will still be hot - with temperatures expected to reach the high 20s for much of England. It will remain unsettled on Sunday and into next week, Robinson added. "There'll be torrential rain for some, with further weather warnings likely when confidence in the detail improves," she said. "The unsettled conditions will continue early next week, but exactly where the worst of the storms will be is currently very uncertain. "There are signs that high pressure will help settle things down from the west on Wednesday." Read more: The wet weather comes as England is struggling with its driest start to a year since 1976. Across the country, rainfall was 20% less than the long-term average in June, which also saw two heatwaves rive unusually high demand for water, the Environment Agency said. With national reservoir levels at 75.6% and currently continuing to fall, in multiple regions. are also hitting millions of homes, with Yorkshire Water announcing restrictions as its reservoir storage dropped to just 53.8%.
Sky News
17-07-2025
- Climate
- Sky News
UK weather: Thunderstorms ahead - but temperatures are set to remain high
Thunderstorms and heavy rain are set to hit the UK in the coming days – but temperatures will remain high. The Met Office has issued yellow warnings for much of England, stating there's a risk of sudden flooding, travel delays and power cuts on Friday and into Saturday. The first warning covers most of England and is in place for 9pm on Friday to 6pm on Saturday. The second - for parts of the East Midlands, North East England and Yorkshire and the Humber - is for 12pm to 8pm on Friday. Spray and flooding could cause road closures and even cut some communities off, the Met Office has said, adding that lightning strikes could damage buildings. Sky weather producer Joanna Robinson said: "Heavy, thundery rain will move in from France on Friday night, pushing northwards across much of England on Saturday, reaching Scotland later in the day. "The rain will be torrential in places, bringing up to 30mm in less than an hour, with 60-90 mm in less than three hours for some isolated spots." Recent dry weather could increase the risk of flash flooding, as torrential rain falling on hard, baked ground will run off rather than being easily soaked in. 2:17 Despite the rain, it will still be hot - with temperatures expected to reach the high 20s for much of England. It will remain unsettled on Sunday and into next week, Robinson added. "There'll be torrential rain for some, with further weather warnings likely when confidence in the detail improves," she said. "The unsettled conditions will continue early next week, but exactly where the worst of the storms will be is currently very uncertain. "There are signs that high pressure will help settle things down from the west on Wednesday." The wet weather comes as England is struggling with its driest start to a year since 1976. Across the country, rainfall was 20% less than the long-term average in June, which also saw two heatwaves rive unusually high demand for water, the Environment Agency said. 2:59 With national reservoir levels at 75.6% and currently continuing to fall, droughts have been declared in multiple regions.
Sky News
26-06-2025
- Climate
- Sky News
UK weather: Amber heat health alert issued for England ahead of potentially the hottest June day on record
An amber heat health alert has been issued for some parts of England - days before what could be the hottest June day on record. Sky News weather producer Joanna Robinson said highs of 34C are possible on Monday - with a 20% chance of beating the hottest day in June record of 35.6C from 1976. The likelihood of a record-breaking temperature on Monday could increase over the weekend as the day approaches. If the temperature does exceed 35.6C it would make it the hottest start to Wimbledon ever - with the world-famous tennis tournament beginning on Monday. The highest temperature for the opening day of the tournament so far came on 25 June 2001, with 29.3C at Kew Gardens. Heatwave criteria are likely to be met in a few places on Sunday and Monday, mainly across parts of central and eastern England. A heatwave is recorded when an area reaches a certain temperature - the level of which varies across the UK - for three consecutive days. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued an amber heat health alert for the East Midlands, east of England, London, South East and the South West. It has also issued a yellow heat health alert for Yorkshire and The Humber and the West Midlands. Both alerts begin at 12pm on Friday and end at 6pm on Tuesday 1 July. The UKHSA alerts are designed to warn health and social care workers about possible significant impacts on their services - they are not public weather warnings. The alerts in place over the coming days warn of a possible rise in weather-related deaths - particularly among those aged 65 and over or people with health conditions. The hot weather will come after unsettled conditions on Thursday which look set to continue on Friday - with heavy rain possible in the West, while the east of England could remain dry, escaping with some sunny intervals. Warm, humid air is set to linger in the South and East, with maximum temperatures of 27C in eastern England. Parts of the South and East may also remain very warm, with highs potentially reaching 28C as the muggy air returns. The wet conditions mean there has been a soggy start to this year's Glastonbury music festival before highs of 30C are expected across the UK this weekend. Warms nights have also been forecast for the weekend and going into next week - with temperatures set to be well above average across the UK. Robinson said there is some uncertainty over how quickly daytime temperatures will start to fall - but it is likely to happen from Tuesday. She added that June is the first month of summer so higher temperatures are more likely in July and August. However, a rapid analysis from scientists at World Weather Attribution found that June heatwaves in the South East - where there would need to be three consecutive days of temperatures above 28C - are about 10 times more likely due to climate change compared with the cooler pre-industrial climate. It comes after 2023 brought the hottest June on record with heatwaves also seen in June 2017 and June 2020. Last Saturday was the hottest day of 2025 so far, with a provisional temperature of 33.2C recorded in Charlwood, Surrey.
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
New roadside camera trial to target drivers breaching specific road rule in 'real-time'
Road authorities in one state are set to trial new camera technology aimed to change the behaviour of motorists while they're behind the wheel, and hopefully reduce a nasty habit that has been on the rise in recent years. Queensland is rolling out new technology that will warn drivers to back off if they're caught tailgating on the state's roads. The variable message signs will appear on the side of the road and will display messages to passing motorists if the monitoring technology detects them driving too close to the car in front. The Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) has launched the system at one site and has a couple of others planned for the very near future. A spokesperson for TMR told Yahoo News the trial is very much a "fact finding" mission that is aiming to better understand how prevalent the issue of tailgating is. While drivers can be fined $376 for tailgating in Queensland, the data collected in the trial will simply be used to inform future road safety policies. For now, "there are absolutely no plans" to utilise such technology to issue official warnings or infringements, the spokesperson said. The problem of tailgating is, at least anecdotally, on the rise in Queensland, with one in five drivers recently admitting to doing it. The latest RACQ's Annual Road Safety Survey showed that 20 per cent of motorists admitted to tailgating others on the road, a response that has seen a gradual increase over the years. "Tailgating is a major contributor to road trauma in Queensland, being one of the main causes of rear end crashes," said Joanna Robinson, the general manager of Land, Transport, Safety, and Regulation at TMR. "This new technology will detect unsafe tailgating behaviour, and display a message to motorists in real-time." The signs will act much like the Slow for SAM (speed awareness monitors) signs in the state which are electronic displays which provide feedback to divers based on their detected speed. According to the Motor Accident Insurance Commission, rear end crashes are the most common type of road accident in that state, with the organisation urging drivers to make sure they leave a "two second" gap with the car in front, and more of a gap in adverse conditions such as rain. Meaning behind little-known roadside marker popping up on Aussie roads Tragic detail in Aussie roadside photo prompts urgent call to action Millions warned over new cameras with $3,300 fines and six demerit points Authorities around the country are working to reduce the number of road fatalities and change driver behaviour with greater surveillance and monitoring. "We are seeing an increase in people admitting to aggressive behaviours," RACQ's Road Safety and Technical Manager Joel Tucker said following the group's latest survey in October. "We all get stuck in traffic, we all have places to be and sometimes we make mistakes. It's important to keep a cool head and not to overreact to things that happen on the road, because the consequences of impatience or anger can be life-changing," he warned. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
