Lovely autumn colours in west London. Although there won't be that many leaves on those trees by the end of Monday! pic.twitter.com/UU6IOVTC8SBattening down and bracing for a battering! Met Office warnings re UK weather has Britons buzzing amid very bad memories of the Great Storm of 1987. As most powerful storm to hit Britain in 26 years approaches, much-wider area than first expected will be pounded by gales, downpours and powerful winds of 60-80 mph, with flooding and widespread power outages expected; @metoffice
— Liam Dutton (@liamdutton) October 25, 2013
Even as your faithful blogger posts from his home in South Florida, two miles west of the Atlantic, way across the North Atlantic, a huge storm riding the jetstream from east of the United States, is preparing to batter southern England & Wales on Sunday night and Monday morning, bringing gales and downpours and causing widespread disruption, with powerful winds of 60-80 mph winds expected.
Winds are expected to be even higher in coastal areas, where risk of damage to property can and should be expected.
The storm, moving SW to NE, will then continue across The North Sea and arrive in Norway, Denmark and Sweden on Monday night, with heavy snowfall expected in parts of western Sweden currently experiencing autumnal temperatures.
I've been watching SkyNews the past two nights and have seen their video of much of the advance preparation for the storm that's expected to lash parts of Great Britain for hours, with ferry and shipping cancellations already taking place, trimming of some trees to reduce damage and possibility of becoming projectiles, and removal of anything movable on piers and in dockage areas, where some destruction seems highly likely.
Two storm-related video pieces done by veteran Sky News correspondent David Bowden that aired Saturday night:
http://news.sky.com/story/1160250/britain-braced-for-severe-80mph-storm
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/video/warning-major-storm-way-172515226.html
Shortly after 8:30 p.m. Eastern Saturday, I heard a number mentioned during the newscast as an estimate by some group (?) that total clean-up costs could hit 1000 £1m, i.e. a Billion Pounds.
Again, there are still memories present among many over what can happen when there is a lack of proper preparation by those in charge and they are caught up short:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Storm_of_1987
Last I heard, there's an expectation that very windy and rainy conditions will exist in the affected areas from 5 a.m. until 9 p.m.
That means cabin fever.
I'd have those candles, junk food and coolers of ice-filled drinks and pre-prepared sandwiches ready for when the lights go out -and stay out .
Below, a screenshot I snapped of Aftonbladet's website mid-Saturday night about the approaching storm:
HรSTSTORM Pร VรG! (Autumn storm on its way!)
Early Sunday morning, SMHI, the Swedish equivalent of NOAA here in the U.S., issued Gale Warnings for ships in and around the Baltic Sea, and they have also issued a warning to my friend Andreas and everyone else living in Gotland that there is a very great risk of powerful dust storms there, though that will obviously be before all the heavy rain gets there and soaks them as well.
@anglesey42 Morning. See here for the current track predictions: http://t.co/xUC7Jh7ktY ^JR
— Met Office (@metoffice) October 27, 2013
Warnings have been updated to include a Yellow warning of wind in parts of England and Wales until 8am. http://t.co/hsuH3oEFGL NM
— BBC Weather (@bbcweather) October 27, 2013
And so Monday's storm has been born - hook of cloud circled in yellow. Fast jet stream will develop it rapidly! pic.twitter.com/r0jqOLTwSz
— Liam Dutton (@liamdutton) October 26, 2013
Low pressure now developing in W.Atlantic (circled) will form Monday's #ukstorm. MattT pic.twitter.com/Y9vkCLH6kf
— BBC Weather (@bbcweather) October 26, 2013
Update on graphic showing alternative and most likely track of the storm on Monday #weatheraware pic.twitter.com/eXFijnajpl
— Met Office (@metoffice) October 25, 2013
The most recent public dispatch from the Met Office is this one:
Severe storm heading for the UK
26 October 2013 - The Met Office is warning of the risk of a significant storm bringing exceptionally strong winds to parts of England and Wales on Sunday night into Monday morning
Currently forecasts suggest a low pressure system will rapidly deepen just to the south west of the UK on later on Sunday, before moving across the country to be out over the North Sea by the afternoon on Monday.
This is expected to bring gusts of 60 - 80 mph widely across the southern half of the UK, with gusts of more than 80 mph possible in places - especially on exposed coasts.
Any major storm which occurs in early autumn has the potential to cause widespread severe disruption through falling trees, structural damage, transport disruption or power cuts and possibly flooding.
Frank Saunders, Chief Forecaster at the Met Office, said: "We are confident that a severe storm will affect Britain on Sunday night and Monday. We are now looking at refining the details about which areas will see the strongest winds and the heaviest rain.
"This is a developing situation and we'd advise people to stay up to date with our forecasts and warnings over the weekend, and be prepared to change their plans if necessary. We'll continue to work closely with authorities and emergency services to ensure they are aware of the expected conditions."
