Saturday, September 15, 2018

Helene prompts yellow warnings for wind in UK ahead of possible windstorms next week

By Courtney Spamer, AccuWeather meteorologist
September 15, 2018, 10:44:44 AM EDT



An active storm track will set up across parts of the United Kingdom next week, bringing more frequent bouts of rain and strong winds and a former hurricane.
Helene, which formed off the coast of Africa during the first week of September, strengthened to a hurricane on 9 September.
However, it has since weakened to a tropical storm after moving out of the warm waters of the tropics.
Tropical storm warnings were issued for the Azores on Friday, ahead of impacts expected this weekend.
After drenching the Azores, Helene is expected to weaken to a tropical depression. However, Helene will remain an impactful storm. As such, the UK Met Office on Friday issued yellow warnings for wind across much of the region from Monday afternoon until Tuesday.
HeleneUKThur

Regions affected by the yellow warnings include South West England, Wales, North West England, Strathclyde, southwest Scotland, Lothian Borders and Northern Ireland.
"There is still some uncertainty with the exact track of Helene as it approaches the British Isles," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Tyler Roys.
Roys said wind gusts of 50-75 mph could be possible for the United Kingdom, especially parts of Wales, Northern Ireland and western Scotland.
The highest wind speeds will likely be on the southward facing coast and the highest elevations.
Currently, the areas highest at risk for heavy rainfall would be Northern Ireland and Scotland. The heaviest rainy spells could bring up to 55 mm (2 inches) of rainfall. Residents in these areas should be on alert for localized flash flooding.
These conditions could cause travel disruptions throughout the British Isles. Flight delays could cascade and affect other places across Europe as well.
UKPatternThur

Fluctuations in the jet stream will continue to influence the weather pattern allowing storms enough time to strengthen before moving into Europe.
“Confidence remains low for how many windstorms could impact the British Isles,” said Roys.
A windstorm is defined as a low pressure system that is accompanied by severe weather, including flooding rain or gale-force winds, according to the UK Met Office.
The potential exists for several lows to pass across the North Atlantic Ocean in the next week to turn strong enough to be called a windstorm.
However, it is highly unlikely that all of them will become windstorms.
Any saturation or weakening of structures and trees caused by Helene could compound with these subsequent lows, leading to more damage than usual.
The 2018-2019 windstorm name list was just released on Tuesday, informing the public that the first named windstorm would become Ali.

Download the free AccuWeather App to keep track of Helene and the latest tropical systems across the globe.

-

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Man missing at sea for nearly 2 weeks found alive in life raft off Washington coast

  One of two men missing at sea for nearly two weeks was found alive on Thursday by a Canadian fishing boat in a life raft in Canadian water...