Millions of Britons have been warned to stay indoors, while thousands have been left without power after Storm Darragh arrived in the UK last night.
The Met Office has announced a rare red wind warning for the early hours of Saturday, posing a ‘danger to life’ with ‘significant disruption’ anticipated between 3am and 11am along most of the Welsh coast and parts of south-west England.
Approximately three million people residing in the areas under the red wind warning received an emergency alert on their mobile devices. This alert, a component of the Government’s ‘risk to life’ cautionary system, advised individuals to refrain from driving and to ‘stay indoors if possible’.
Wind speeds peaked at 93mph in Capel Curig, North Wales, during the night, with coastal areas of Wales and Northern Ireland experiencing gusts ranging from 72 to 78mph.
Thousands of people across Northern Ireland, England and Wales were also left without power and some locals woke up to crushed cars caused by fallen trees.
National Grid has said more than 55,000 customers have no power supply across the South West, the West Midlands and in South Wales. Around 376,000 customers have had their power restored by its teams since the start of the storm, it added.
Darragh has also brought widespread travel disruption along the east coast, with the Prince of Wales Bridge, M4 and the Severn Bridge, M48, which connect South West England to Wales closed due to strong winds.
Sports events across the UK and Ireland have also been thrown into disarray, including a Premier League match between Liverpool and Everton which has been cancelled due to safety fears.
The Met Office issued the red weather warning – the most serious type – on Friday for wind, meaning dangerous weather is expected and people are urged to take action to keep themselves and others safe.
The warning, which has led to the cancellation of events including Christmas attractions, is in place from 3am to 11am on Saturday.
The Met Office warned of ‘damaging winds’ with gusts of 90mph possible over the coasts and hills of West and South Wales. Forecasters say the strongest winds will begin to ease from late morning.
The Cabinet Office’s Emergency Alert system sent a message to every compatible mobile phone in the impacted areas, containing information about the red warning and guidance on how to stay safe into Saturday.
Mobile phones made a loud siren-like sound even if they were set on silent, with the sound and vibration lasting for about 10 seconds. But some people have claimed they did not receive the alert.
A separate amber warning covering a larger stretch of the west coast of the UK, stretching from southern Scotland to Cornwall, and Northern Ireland is in place from 1am until 9pm.
Flying debris and falling trees could pose a risk to life while large waves and beach material could be thrown on to coastal roads and seafronts.
There could also be damage to buildings and homes, with roofs blown off and power lines brought down, as well as power cuts affecting other services such as mobile phone coverage.
Darragh has thrown sports events across the UK and Ireland into disarray, as gale-force winds and relentless rain force widespread cancellations.
In Wales, Cardiff City’s Championship clash with Watford was called off due to the storm, alongside other local fixtures deemed unsafe to proceed.
Horse racing, another major sporting casualty, saw high-profile events such as Aintree’s Boylesports Becher Chase and Chepstow’s Christmas Party race day cancelled.
At Aintree, gusts were already damaging track infrastructure early on Saturday, while Chepstow abandoned their event citing the hazardous conditions and a bleak weather forecast for the rest of the day.
Liverpool’s clash with Everton has also been called off. Authorities, rather than the two clubs, made the decision to delay the fixture, which will be the last Premier League Merseyside derby held at Goodison Park.
Plymouth’s Championship match against Oxford has also been postponed following advice from the local Safety Advisory Group, which strongly recommended the decision.
Meanwhile, Newport’s League Two match against Carlisle has been postponed due to safety concerns for fans.
Carlisle’s squad reportedly began their journey from Cumbria early on Friday and had crossed into Wales by mid-afternoon.
Authorities on both sides of the border had made preparations ahead of the worst of the storm making landfall.
The official Irish meteorological office Met Eireann’s highest level of alert cover counties Mayo, Clare, Galway, Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo and Wicklow.
The Irish Taoiseach Simon Harris urged those living in areas covered by red warnings to take them ‘extraordinarily seriously’.
‘A red weather warning does mean do not travel during that period of time, and even though it is a Friday night and coming up to the Christmas season, I’d really encourage people to heed that advice and indeed to follow closely weather advice in the hours ahead,’ he said.
‘Of course, there’s an orange weather warning for the rest of the country as well. So, really, people in that area should avoid any unnecessary travel at all. It is important people take these warnings very, very seriously in terms of protecting life in the hours ahead.’
Dublin airport confirmed it had welcomed a number of flights bound for other airports and were diverted due to the fourth named storm of the season.
ESB Networks said the high winds are expected to cause damage to electricity infrastructure, particularly in counties subject to the red warnings.
The rest of the Republic of Ireland will be covered by a Met Eireann orange wind warning. In Munster and Connacht, that warning came into effect at 8pm on Friday and will extend to 10am on Saturday.
The orange alert for Leinster and counties Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan came into effect two hours later at 10pm and will also lift at 10am on Saturday.
A Met Eireann yellow wind warning covering the whole state came into place at 3pm on Friday. It will remain in effect after the orange warnings lift and will be in place until 3pm on Saturday.
A yellow rain warning for Connacht, and counties Clare, Donegal, Cavan, Monaghan, Longford, Louth, Meath and Westmeath came into place at 10am on Friday and will lift at 10am on Saturday.
In Northern Ireland, the Met Office has issued an amber wind warning covering the whole region from 1am on Saturday to 9pm.
A yellow rain warning came into effect in Northern Ireland at 3pm on Friday and will lift at 12pm on Saturday. A yellow wind warning also came into place at 3pm on Friday.
In England it is understood residents in Devon, Bath and North East Somerset, the City of Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Somerset, Isle of Anglesey, Gwynedd, Conwy, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Vale of Glamorgan, Cardiff, Monmouthshire and Newport have been alerted
A Cabinet Office Spokesperson said: ‘The Met Office has issued a red warning for wind across parts of England and Wales from 0300 hrs until 1100 hrs on Saturday 7th December.
‘In light of the damaging winds and associated disruption, the Cabinet Office will issue an Emergency Alert at 1845 hrs on Friday 6th December to people in areas covered by the red warning in parts of Wales and the South West.
‘The Emergency Alert system will send a message to every compatible mobile phone in the impacted areas, containing information about the red warning and guidance on how to stay safe into Saturday.
‘This will be the largest ever use of the system outside a test scenario.
‘Mobile phones will make a loud siren-like sound even if they are set on silent. The sound and vibration will last for about 10 seconds.
‘The UK Government has well rehearsed plans in place for severe winter weather and is working with teams from devolved governments, local authorities, the emergency services and other public bodies to coordinate the response to any disruption.’
National Highways said both the Prince of Wales Bridge, M4 and the Severn Bridge, M48, which connect South West England to Wales were closed due to strong winds.
Network Rail Wales said all train services west of Cardiff and on the North Wales Coast Line were suspended until further notice due to falling trees blocking the line.
National Highways advised the QEII Bridge at Dartford Crossing in England’s south east had also been closed due to strong winds.
In the West Midlands, the A5 was closed between the B5070 at Gledrid and A483 at Halton due to strong winds.
National Rail said the storm was likely to affect services across the whole network, advising people to check their journey in full before travelling as it may mean last services of the day are cancelled and passengers may not reach their destination.
They have particularly advised those travelling in the city region of Liverpool and Cumbria to take extra care and urged them to plan their journeys in advance.
Chris Pye, Network Rail’s North West infrastructure director, said: ‘We are doing everything we can to prepare the railway for Storm Darragh.
‘I’d urge passengers to check before they travel as there may be some disruption to services during the extreme weather.
‘If you live near the railway, please can you secure any loose objects in your gardens such as trampolines and furniture.
‘It is a serious safety risk if they blow onto the tracks and creates more work for our teams who will be on hand around the clock to keep passengers safely on the move.’
Chiltern Railways advised customers to only travel if absolutely necessary on Saturday with significant disruption expected across the network.
A reduced timetable will be in operation with one train per hour on all routes. Chiltern said customers with tickets on Saturday can use them on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday instead.
A number of British airways flights to and from Heathrow, Paris, the United States and the Netherlands were also cancelled. Air traffic control (ATC) provider Nats added that temporary air traffic restrictions are in place at Heathrow and Gatwick.
Darragh is also expected to bring heavy rain over the weekend, with more than 120 flood alerts in place on Saturday morning.
An amber warning for rain is in place in Wales from 3am to 6pm on Saturday with heavy rain likely to lead to disruption to transport and infrastructure.
A yellow warning for rain is in place for Northern Ireland and Wales, both of which were badly affected by flooding during Storm Bert, as well as parts of Scotland from 3pm on Friday until noon on Saturday.
The Met Office said periods of heavy rain in south and mid-Wales through Saturday are likely to see 20-30mm fall in three to six hours, with totals of 80-90mm possible by the time it begins to ease in the evening.
Two football matches in the Championship – Cardiff City v Watford and Plymouth Argyle v Oxford United – were called off on Friday due to concerns for supporters’ safety.
Meteorologists said a period of ‘extremely strong winds’ will develop during the early hours of Saturday morning as the low pressure system moves across the Irish Sea.
Forecasters told residents to ‘stay indoors if you can’ and ‘avoid travelling by road during potentially dangerous conditions – it is not safe to drive in these conditions’.
The deepening low pressure system will bring a ‘risk to life and property’, with Christmas events such as light shows, trails and markets axed across the country.
Christmas markets in towns such as Romsey, Hampshire; Taunton, Somerset; and Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire have all been cancelled due to the forecast.
Elsewhere, the start of Bolton’s ‘Put Big Light On’ lights festival was postponed, and an ice sculpture trail in Darlington was also put back by a week.
Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire said it will not open on Saturday due to the storm for safety reasons.
In racing, Sandown’s Betfair Tingle Creek Chase meeting and the Boylesports Becher Chase fixture at Aintree on Saturday must pass precautionary inspections due to the threat of high winds.
Belfast City Council said on its website that the city’s Christmas market will stay closed on Saturday due to the weather warnings.
