Storm Eowyn leaves a third of Ireland without power

Hundreds of thousands of people were disrupted by record-breaking winds across the island on Friday, an unusually high number for a small country.

Storm Eowyn was expected to bring gales on Friday, according to the Irish Meteorological Service. Forecasters also said it would see strong winds in northern Northern Ireland and northern and western parts of Scotland, England and Wales. Britain’s National Weather Service has issued a red warning, the highest warning, the highest warning, for dangerous weather for parts of northern Ireland and Scotland.

Hills and coasts along the Irish Sea, as well as southwest Scotland, could experience gusts of up to 100 miles, the service said. At 5 o’clock, a company of 114 mph was recorded in the West of Ireland at Mace Head, County Galway, beating the Irish record of 1945.

ESB Networks, Ireland’s state-owned power company, said about 715,000 customers were without power on Friday morning, a third of the utility’s about 2.4 million general customers.

Eowyn, Ireland forecast, will bring Rain Showers and showers and longer rain in northern Ireland. There was a chance of sleet and snow in the Scottish Highlands, according to the forecast. England’s Met Office warned of “very hazardous conditions with widespread disruption and significant impacts”.

Strong winds disrupted travel in Ireland, Scotland and northern England. Ireland’s National Transport Authority suspended all public transport on Friday. Northern Rail, the British train company, has asked customers not to travel on Friday and Saturday.

Hundreds of flights were grounded at airports across Ireland and Britain on Friday. Belfast International Airport, in Northern Ireland, urged travelers to stay home on Friday and said it was experiencing intermittent power outages. Travelers should check with their airlines regarding the status of their flights.

A strong jet stream—a high-altitude current of fast-moving air that drives global weather patterns west to east (and can also speed up airplane travel)—helped Eowyn gain strength. The jet stream, which typically reaches 190 to 220 mph this week, has recently hit the U.S. days and intensified by the strengthening of the harsh temperature contrast caused by the Arctic blast of warm moist air in the Gulf of Mexico.

The same weather system swept across much of the United States Cold conditions this weekdelivering low temperatures in decades and life-threatening wind chills.

The last time England had a storm of this strength was Darragh in early December, with a storm that also affected a strong jet stream. Wind speeds for this storm were 93 mph in Wales.

For Ireland, Eowyn The worst storm since 2017At least three people were killed in the Atlantic, one of the strongest storms on record in the northeast.

Eowyn was expected to enter the Norwegian Sea on Saturday, allowing for a brief lull in drying and calmer conditions, but another storm system is forecast to bring similar threats to Britain on Sunday and Monday.

Nazaneen Ghaffar contributing report.