Storm Bram brings flooding and travel disruption to UK
Trains, flights and ferries were canceled and thousands were left without power Storm Bram brought heavy rain, strong winds and above-seasonally mild temperatures to much of the UK on Tuesday.
Fresh amber warning for wind Possible danger to life, C.It comes into effect at 16:00 GMT in north-west Scotland, with winds of up to 145km/h possible in the early hours of Wednesday.
Less severe yellow warnings for wind covering the rest of Scotland, all of Northern Ireland, Wales and parts of England were due to end at dawn.
As of 20:00, 60 flood warnings were issued across the UK, 30 in England, 17 in Wales and 13 in Scotland.
the storm brought exceptionally mild weather; temperatures rose as high as 16°C (60°F) in some areas; this was significantly above the December average of 5-9°C.
In Scotland, many ferry services on the west coast have been canceled or disrupted. ScotRail has announced that some trains in the north-west will finish early due to delays and speed restrictions in other parts of the country.
Some Scottish schools closed early due to the forecast.
The new amber warning for very strong and destructive winds in north-west Scotland and the Western Isles came into effect at 4pm and is set to continue until 3am on Wednesday. Fresh yellow wind warnings were expected to begin at midnight for the rest of the country.
ReutersNorthern Ireland remained under a lighter yellow wind warning until 10pm, while dozens of flights between the island of Ireland and Great Britain were canceled throughout the day.
Ulster University has closed some of its campuses and schools have been asked to monitor weather warnings in their areas.
A yellow warning for wind also covered all of Wales until 7pm, where severe travel disruptions were being reported.
The M48 Severn Bridge has been closed due to high winds, leaving motorists facing heavy traffic; The alternative Prince of Wales Bridge (connecting Wales and England via the M4) closed from 20:00. Lamp poles at risk of collapse can be taken down.
Various rail services were disrupted, with all lines between Aberdare and Abercynon in the south closed due to flooding; Services between Llandudno and Blaenau Ffestiniog in the north were canceled after a train hit a tree that had fallen over the line.
A Transport Wales spokesman said there were 17 passengers on board at the time. It is not known if anyone was injured.
PA MediaBoth south Wales and south-west England saw heavy rain overnight into Tuesday and were covered with yellow warnings until 10am.
David Braine, BBC South West’s senior broadcast meteorologist, said Dartmoor in Devon had seen almost a month’s worth of rainfall in the last 48 hours.
Many homes in Totnes were flooded as the River Dart, which carries water from Dartmoor, swelled with rainwater. The rain also disrupted rail services, including some services to London.
Great Western Railway reported cancellations due to flooding in the west of England including:
- Par and Newquay
- Totnes and Plymouth
- Swindon and Bristol Parkway
National Rail warned that some Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, East Midlands Rail and TransPennine Express services were affected. Details are available on their website.
thousands in England and Wales there was He was left without electricity. More than 4,000 properties were without power as of 4.30pm, according to National Grid.
Storm Bram is chasing Amy Storm in OctoberIt caused disruption to travel, power outages and damage to thousands of homes across the UK from the storm.
Storm Bram, as named by Ireland’s national weather service Met Éireann, is expected to cause ongoing disruption throughout Tuesday before clearing on Wednesday.
Why does Storm Bram follow Storm Claudia?
Storm Bram is the fourth storm to hit the UK this season, after Amy, Benjamin and Claudia; So why did the forecasters go back to the letter B?
BBC weather presenter Matt Taylor says it comes down to how storms are named and who actually names them.
The Met Office in the UK, Met Éireann in Ireland and KNMI in the Netherlands come together to monitor major storms. Storms are named when they are expected to have a significant impact in at least one of the countries in the group and are not based on any precipitation or wind speed thresholds.
The alphabetical storm name list is decided jointly by the group every year in line with requests from the public. Storm Bram was the second storm the group named this season; The Irish weather service announced Bram’s name.
Benjamin was chosen by the French weather service and Claudia by the Spanish service because of the effects that low pressure systems would first have in these countries.
