Storm Gareth to be the 1st of 3 windstorms to batter British Isles, northern Europe this week

By Eric Leister, AccuWeather senior meteorologist

The recent stormy weather pattern across northern and western Europe will continue this week as Storm Gareth leads a barrage of storms across the region.

Gareth will bring damaging winds and localised flooding from the British Isles to the Netherlands and Germany into Wednesday.

Storm Gareth was officially named by Met Éireann on Monday before it spread an initial round of rain and strong winds across the British Isles.

A group of climbers were caught in an avalanche on Ben Nevis, Britain's tallest peak, on Tuesday as powerful winds swept through the area, according to the BBC. At least two people were killed in the incident.

While additional rain and hill snow are expected across Ireland and the United Kingdom from Gareth into Wednesday, damaging winds will be the most widespread concern.

Frequent wind gusts of 65-80 km/h (40-50 mph) will occur Tuesday night and Wednesday with the strongest winds focused in northern parts of Ireland, western Scotland, Northern Ireland and Northern England.

After slamming Ireland and the United Kingdom, powerful wind gusts will stretch to France, as well as parts of Belgium, Netherlands and northwestern Germany on Wednesday.

The highest wind gusts, at a magnitude of 95-110 km/h (60-70 mph), are expected in western Scotland, Northern Ireland, coastal communities in the Netherlands and far northwest Germany.

"There can be an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 145 km/h (90 mph) at the northwest-facing coastal and exposed areas of western Scotland and Northern Ireland," according to AccuWeather meteorologist Tyler Roys.

These winds can produce widespread power cuts and travel disruptions with a localised risk for damage to homes and businesses.

Wind gusts of 65-80 km/h (40-50 mph) are expected in London and Paris, while Brussels and Manchester could have a wind gust as high as 95 km/h (60 mph).

The strongest winds in London are expected on Wednesday morning with the peak gusts battering Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris throughout the day on Wednesday.

Winds of this magnitude are likely to lead to travel disruptions, including crosswinds on the roads, flight delays at airports and disruptions for boat or ferry travel across the English Channel and Irish Sea.

Winds will only briefly subside before the next storm brings another round of locally damaging winds from the British Isles to Germany and France on Thursday.

Widespread wind gusts of 65-80 km/h (40-50 mph) are expected in Dublin, Manchester, London, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Frankfurt on Thursday.

Local gusts up to 95 km/h (60 mph) are possible in near the coast of southern England, northern France and Belgium from this storm.

While rainfall is not expected to exceed 25 mm (1 inch) in any location on Thursday, the combination of this rainfall and rain from Gareth and preceding storms will result in localised flooding problems.

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A third storm will race eastward on Friday bringing more strong winds and rainfall.

This storm will focus its strongest winds on Scotland where high-elevation snow will combine with the winds to create blizzard conditions.

Frequent wind gusts of 65-80 km/h (40-50 mph) are expected in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Northern England with peak gusts of 80 mph in western and northern Scotland.

Significant disruptions to travel will once again be possible through much of the northern half of the U.K.

Wind gusts of 65-80 km/h (40-50 mph) may reach coastal Belgium, Netherlands and northwest Germany by Friday afternoon or evening. These winds will be accompanied by a period of rain making for a slower than normal evening commute.

A fourth storm may arrive on Saturday with gusty winds and rainfall; however, this storm is not expected to produce any widespread travel disruption or damaging winds.