Amber weather warning in place for arrival of Storm Éowyn

An amber weather warning has been issued, as gale-force winds are expected to blast Orkney on Friday and Saturday.

The arrival of Storm Éowyn will bring widespread travel disruption and people in coastal areas are being urged to be aware of the dangers.

The Met Office is forecasting for winds to increase in strength in the early hours of Friday morning, gusting at between 60mph-70mph during the day.

Overnight gusts are expected to exceed 80mph and gale-force winds will continue into Saturday, with the amber warning remaining in place until 6am.

Storm Éowyn, pronounced ‘Ay-oh-win’, will begin to influence the UK’s weather early on Friday, with strengthening winds initially in southwestern parts of the UK with accompanying heavy rainfall. This will quickly spread northeast to the rest of the UK during Friday morning.

Northern Ireland and southwestern areas of Scotland will bear the brunt of the storm’s impact, with rare red warnings — which represents a likely danger to life and severe disruption — being issued for these areas.

NorthLink Ferries has issued an early disruption warning to customers, while Orkney Ferries services are also disrupted, with sailings already cancelled.

Pentland Ferries’ Pentland Firth service is currently suspended due to the mv Pentalina being on refit.

Loganair is also offering customers the opportunity for customers to change travel plans without charge here.

The RNLI has also urged the public to stay safe, particularly in exposed locations such as island and coastal areas.

For those who plan to visit the coast during this time, the strong gusts pose a significant risk to safety and the lifesaving charity is urging the public to exercise extreme caution, particularly along exposed cliffs, seafronts and piers.

Contingency plans are already in place from SSEN for impact on power supplies in the north.

SSEN teams in the north of Scotland region are now on a Yellow Alert status, with a high likelihood of an impact to the network from fallen trees and wind-borne debris in certain areas.

SSEN distribution’s director of customer operations Andy Smith said appropriate preparations ensured they were well-placed to respond to any impact storm-force winds will have on the power network.

Mr Smith: “There’s still some uncertainty in the forecast at this time, but we’re preparing for this storm to have a significant impact, and I’d like to reassure our customers we’re putting the things in place right now to ensure any disruption to their supplies is kept to a minimum. I’d like to thank people for their understanding over the next few days while we work hard to respond to this storm.”

Further information from SSEN can be found here. More information can be found at Met Office.