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Original poster

Storm Barra

63 replies

OhYouBadBadKitten · 06/12/2021 11:56

Met office warnings for tomorrow and wednesday.
www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/uk-warnings
www.met.ie/

Effectively if you live in north west Scotland you are out of the warning area.

Snow: predominantly through central Scotland and down through the pennines. Combined with the gales, conditions will be pretty atrocious. Not a day for hill walking.

Wind: Along the west coast of Ireland and Northern Ireland of70- 80mph (perhaps a little higher) More widespread gusts of 50-60mph elsewhere.

Along south and west coastal areas of Wales and England gusts of 70-80mph (I think its possible that some amber warnings may come out for the SW)

Across the rest of England and eastern Scotland gusts of 40-50mph inland, perhaps 60mph or a little above in some exposed coastal areas. This will be unwelcome news for those in the NE who will be very jumpy. It doesn't look anything like as severe as Arwen though, but I am sorry for you guys in that area. Hang in there.

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PainterInPeril · 06/12/2021 12:37

@OhYouBadBadKitten I'm in SW England and so far I only have a yellow warning. Really hope it doesn't change to amber, windy weather scares me! Hope everyone can stay safe.

PickAChew · 06/12/2021 12:44

I'm in Durham and so far (crossing everything) we're not forecast anything much worse than we've had all weekend. I know it's a different story in the west of the county and on higher ground, though.

Negligee · 06/12/2021 12:52

It is entirely irrational but I always feel mildly more reassured when a forecast storm has an Irish name. I'm more freaked out by the next few storm names, which are Corrie, Dudley, Eunice, Franklin and Gladys. I think Storm Gladys could be particularly evil.

Ineverpromisedyouarosegarden · 06/12/2021 12:59

@OhYouBadBadKitten how likely is it to snow in Northern Ireland. We are about 200ft above sea level. Not sure what they count as high ground?

BernardsarenotalwaysSaints · 06/12/2021 13:17

It looks grim here in South Warks tomorrow. On the plus side dc5(4) will have his Forest School kit with him so can at least be dry on the way to & from school, or I might chat Dh up to pick them in the car in the afternoon I usually insist on walking but it's my birthday tomorrow & I'm recovering from an operation

Original poster
OhYouBadBadKitten · 06/12/2021 14:52

I'm having to squeeze in updates into a v. busy work schedule today.

I'm afraid Met Éireann have issued red warning now for Cork and Kerry.
www.met.ie/warnings/tomorrow. Gusts in excess of 80mph, but a big concern is coastal flooding. The high winds coincide with high tide and so it looks as though it is possible some sea defences will be overtopped.

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Original poster
OhYouBadBadKitten · 06/12/2021 14:54

I think any snow will be confined to higher ground in Northern Ireland but I'm afraid I can't be more specific than that.

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BiddyPop · 06/12/2021 15:43

Met Eireann meteorologist on lunchtime news on RTE today said snow in Donegal but that it would be followed by rain so would quickly melt - she was only talking about Ireland though so I presume it would be similar for counties like Derry, Tyrone, Antrim...

She also talked about the US definition of "weather bomb" being a drop in pressure of 25 hPa in a short period of time, but that Barra had dropped by 50 already as it builds up steam in the Atlantic.

I had noticed that throughout the day yesterday, each subsequent weather update seemed to worsen the warnings - it started the day all yellow, then amber over clare/limerick/kerry/cork, then red over the sea off the SW coast, then today that red extended further from Mizen Head in west cork to Roches Point in east cork....

One of the big problems is that the tides are going to be higher than normal anyway, due to cycle of the moon, and then with storm surge and low pressure both causing even higher tides, there is likely to be a lot of flooding along the coast, especially Cork City (which is very low lying) and Galway City.

The National Emergency Coordination Centre is up and working (it's in our Dept of Agriculture) and based on their warnings, I've charged up by big power bank and the one in my work backpack, and will have all my devices fully charged tonight, as well as getting the torches out. Just in case.

Original poster
OhYouBadBadKitten · 06/12/2021 16:07

Good to have updates from you Biddy :)

Yes, this system has more than met the definition of a weather bomb. Thankfully from the point of view of winds it will be filling as it crosses the UK and Ireland but it doesn't stop it from being a rather serious storm.

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Kshhuxnxk · 06/12/2021 16:21

Woo hoo - central Scotland yeay :)

BiddyPop · 06/12/2021 16:23

One of the guys in the local coastguard unit has a photo from a previous storm in similar conditions. The tide is normally about 8 feet below the car park at the water's edge in the inner harbour in Dun Laoghaire - this photo has water coming well up the car tyres of a car abandoned in the car park (so probably at least a foot) when there was very, very low pressure combined with high spring tides and an easterly wind causing storm surge blowing into the harbour.

East is the relevant direction for DL - I'm more worried about anything from a southerly direction (especially south east) for Cork and direct westerly for Galway.

So when they say serious flooding potential, that is what I think of.

ParkheadParadise · 06/12/2021 16:23

I'm in Glasgow, please don't let it snow❄❄
I'm heading out to finish my Christmas shopping tomorrow.

Taytocrisps · 06/12/2021 20:22

I'm in ROI and all schools, universities and colleges across 12 counties have been advised to close tomorrow. There will be no bus services in Cork and Kerry (south west of Ireland). www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/storm-barra-schools-and-universities-in-12-counties-urged-to-close-hospitals-face-disruption-1.4747783

Original poster
OhYouBadBadKitten · 06/12/2021 20:43

Wow. Has that happened due to wind before that you can recall Tayto?

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Taytocrisps · 06/12/2021 20:48

It happened during Hurricane Ophelia but I can't remember it happening for a regular winter storm. I just hope the storm doesn't cause too much damage in terms of floods and obviously that there's no loss of life or injuries.

Inextremis · 06/12/2021 20:52

West of Ireland here - I'm rather looking forward to it as I don't have to go anywhere - or even outside. We're not anywhere at risk of flooding (coastal, but well above sea level), so that helps. RTE news full of gloom and impending doom - I hope everyone stays safe.

ListenLinda · 06/12/2021 21:30

In the yellow area for snow in West Yorks. Considering wfh tomorrow as the Leeds to Bradford line never runs in snow. Hope everyone in Ireland stays safe and there isn’t too much damage.

TheSilveryPussycat · 06/12/2021 23:35

I know of someone with a trailer on the Dingle peninsular. Hope the straps hold...

Negligee · 06/12/2021 23:58

Well, we’re all battened down here. DS is off school, we’re too high for flood risk, no one is supposed to leave the house until the code red ends, and it will be the first day in weeks we haven’t had tradesmen arriving before 8 am. I still feel apprehensive, though.

DramaAlpaca · 07/12/2021 00:06

I'm in the red warning area in the west of Ireland. I've just finished battening down the hatches outside, putting away or tying down anything that might move. I'll be heading in to work tomorrow but wouldn't be surprised to be sent home. It's been a few years since we had a storm as major as this one is forecast to be and there was a lot of local damage. Hope everyone stays safe.

Original poster
OhYouBadBadKitten · 07/12/2021 07:27

www.corkcity.ie/en/council-services/news-room/latest-news/status-red-weather-warningtuesday-7th-december.html
This is what Cork Council have to say.

I don't know of as many resources in Ireland I'm afraid for things like flood forecasts.

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Original poster
OhYouBadBadKitten · 07/12/2021 07:30

I think it is possible that a squall line will pass over England later today, that would produce a brief time of strong gusts, hail and just perhaps a brief tornado. I'll try and keep an eye on this development between work commitments.

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DementedPanda · 07/12/2021 09:12

Oh no! Many people in the Northumberland are still without power and still trying to get repairs done from arwen 😱

Wetoopere · 07/12/2021 09:23

@DementedPanda

Oh no! Many people in the Northumberland are still without power and still trying to get repairs done from arwen 😱
Same in Cumbria. Some got it back Friday and lost again in gusts on Saturday and some just haven’t got it back yet.
BiddyPop · 07/12/2021 09:28

High tide has passed in Cork so flood threat will recede for a few hours. Next worry is east Coast, high tide Dublin is 12:46, main worries are Dundalk and Drogheda (which will be a little later peak tide). There's a webcam in Dun Laoghaire harbour (at the end of the old ferry terminal looking out to harbour mouth) https://dlharbour.ie/visit-us/webcams/ and I can see wind whipping across it, all planes using short runway in Dublin even 767's so it MUST be pretty windy. I've spent the past 40 minutes watching a Ryanair flight from London to Cork make 3 attempts at Cork before going to Shannon (where it's now safely on the ground). I suspect that may decide Ryanair to follow Aer Lingus and cancel everything to Cork and Shannon today.

Irish Lights have Twitter feeds for a fair few of their buoys and lighthouses for wind speed, direction and some have wave height as well. There is an overview page @irishlightssmartbuoys (or something very similar), as well as the coastal reports or current observations pages on Met Éireann.

The https://powercheck.esbnetworks.ie/index.html site shows power outages.

Hope some of those are useful.