Monday - September 12, 2011

Mild Storm Shatters UK???

Britain was today lashed by winds of up to 80mph which tore roofs off buildings, uprooted trees and knocked power out to thousands of homes.

In the worst storm to hit the UK in 15 years, ferries were cancelled and motorists were warned to take extra care when driving.

A couple from Wales have told how they were woken in the night to discover their entire roof had blown off in Hurricane Katia’s 60mph gales.

Ports around Britain have been battered by huge waves leading to the cancellation of ferries while trees have been uprooted, causing damage to cars and houses.

The swirling remnants of Hurricane Katia have crossed the Atlantic and hit land by this morning, sweeping across large swathes of the country.

Forecasters issued urgent weather alerts for Scotland, Northern Ireland, the North East, North West and parts of the Midlands and Wales as the storm prepares to make its way eastwards.

The high winds have been accompanied by heavy rain and the Environment Agency has issued several flood alerts for inland and coastal areas.

In County Durham workers had their cars crushed after a newly-installed roof was torn off a building and landed on more than 15 vehicles.

As gales of up to 50mph hit struck, the entire roof flew off a building under construction at the Littleburn Industrial Estate, Langley Moor, over a fence and smashed onto the parked cars at the neighbouring Bako Northern site, around 10 feet away.

...

Increasing wind speeds as the hurricane approached forced the cancellation of high speed ferries to France from Portsmouth.

Brittany Ferries said it was scrapping its high speed ferries on two crossings scheduled from Portsmouth to Cherbourg today.

Safety regulations state that when waves reach a height of 10 feet or more the high speed crossings must not go ahead. A spokesman for the company said it hopes to have all services operating as usual by tomorrow.

Thousands of homes, shops and business across central England were blacked out this morning when the hurricane winds damaged overhead power lines.

Central Networks said ‘an overhead incident’ had left 51 homes in Oxfordshire, 806 properties in Northamptonshire, two properties in Warwickshire and around a further 1,650 properties as far apart as Derbyshire and Gloucestershire without electricity.

Gusts of 73mph hit Capel Curig in North Wales at 5am today.

The Environment Agency has issued several flood alerts for inland and coastal areas.

...

Organisers of the America’s Cup lifted out all the boats taking part in the international sailing competition in Plymouth as 70mph gusts swept the Devon coast today.
This Met Office map shows where the storm has concentrated today

This Met Office map shows where the storm has concentrated today

Nine catamarans from seven countries taking part in the event were removed from the water and taken ashore because of fears that the boats - worth up to £800,000 each - could be damaged by the hurricane.

...

The western coast of Anglesey has also been issued with an alert with waves of up to two metres high expected to lash certain areas, while water levels at Derwent Water, Cumbria, remain high. The South East and South West will largely escape its wrath, but wind speeds are still expected to reach up to 50mph in places, the Met Office said.

Forecasters issued a yellow alert, warning people to be on their guard, for more than half of the country and placed several areas on amber alert – the second-highest of four levels. There were warnings the storm could disrupt road and rail networks and damage buildings, and trees could be uprooted.

The worst conditions will be in northern and western parts of England and central and southern Scotland. The Environment Agency issued flood alerts for the North East, North West and Wales. Coastal areas are said to be at greatest risk of flooding with strong winds to gales, large waves and a surge coinciding with high tides. High winds will continue into tomorrow before petering out on Wednesday. Homeowners were warned to check for loose tiles and bring garden furniture indoors to help prevent flying debris.

Well, to be a little fair and balanced, they have closed some roads ...

The M6, one of the UK’s busiest motorways, was closed at the Thelwall viaduct in Cheshire because of high winds, with drivers advised to use the M61 as a diversion. Barton Bridge on the M60 Manchester outer ring road was also closed.

Sharp gusts and the beginnings of gales were reported on the north-west coast and in Snowdonia, adding strength to Met Office warnings of potential disruption, damage and flooding.

The Met Office severe weather warning map for Monday has the whole of central and southern Scotland under an amber block denoting “be prepared”, stretching south into North Yorkshire and Cumbria. An area of pale yellow, meaning “be aware”, covers the rest of Scotland, Northern Ireland, parts of Wales and England as far south as Lincolnshire.

... and shut down many of their vaunted wind turbines, because they can’t deal with the wind ...

Britain’s energy network operator National Grid may need to shut down a number of wind power farms on Monday night as strong winds threaten to overload the transmission system with electricity at times when demand is low, a spokesman said.

“If we’ve got constraints and too much generation we’ll go back in there. Nothing (is decided) yet today but if it stays this windy, we may have to look at it,” he said.

The grid operator had to shut down 750 megawatts (MW) of wind power capacity in Scotland on Saturday night and 300 MW on Sunday night as the network was congested.

I’m sure everything will be fine and dandy and all cleaned up by Wednesday at the latest. After all, it’s hardly more than a bit of wind and light rain at the end of a very wet summer, and with their wonderful infrastructure, well made homes and roads, underground utilities and massive government, there won’t be a single tree that lies fallen for more than an hour before it gets chopped up and cleared away. Certainly there won’t be any flooding; such things are simply un-British and thus not done. Sharon Churcher will be proud.

There could be one really bright spot in this: hurricanes and tornadoes just love to destroy mobile homes and RVs ... what the English call caravans ... in which so many of those gypsies and travelers live!

Posted by Drew458     on 09/12/2011 at 11:17 AM   
Filed Under: • Climate-Weather •  
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