Severe gales and coastal flood risk on Thursday

Following my blog yesterday, I just wanted to give an update on some wet and very windy weather that’s going to affect the northern half of the UK during Thursday.

A powerful jet stream 30,000ft up, moving at around 190mph, is going to cause a rapidly deepening area of low pressure to form just to the north of Scotland overnight.

As a result, there will be two main concerns that the weather will bring tomorrow – damaging gusts of wind and the potential for coastal flooding.

Damaging gusts of wind

In the early hours of Thursday morning, the wind will really gather strength – initially over Scotland, but then across Northern Ireland, along with northern parts of England and Wales.

This means that for the morning commute on Thursday, there’ll be damaging gusts of wind from the north Midlands northwards, with a potential for disruption.

Scotland – gusts of 80mph, but 90mph for coasts and hills in the north west
Northern Ireland – gusts of 70mph
Northern England – gusts of 70mph, but 80mph for coasts and hills
North Wales, north Midlands and north Norfolk – gusts of 60mph, but 70mph for coasts and hills
Elsewhere – gusts of 30-50mph

Wind gusts of this strength are capable of bringing down trees and power lines, as well as causing some structural damage. Travel delays are also likely, so it is worth checking before you travel.

Coastal flood risk

Another concern tomorrow is coastal flooding for north-facing coasts of the UK. Strong winds will whip up large waves that will combine with high tides to push a surge of water onto the coast.

Environment Agency flood risk maps – orange (medium risk), yellow (low risk)

The Environment Agency is warning that the areas at highest risk are along the North Sea coast of England from Northumberland down to north Norfolk. Coastal parts of Essex and Kent may be affected too.

In addition to the above, there’ll be a band of heavy rain sliding southwards, with colder air bringing snow showers to Scotland later in the day.

I’ll be keeping a close eye on the situation tomorrow and be posting regular updates on Twitter, where you can send me your pictures and reports – @liamdutton