'Worst of Storm Bert yet to arrive' amid gridlocked roads, cancelled flights and thousands of homes without power
Thousands of homes are without power, roads are flooded and flights have been cancelled – but the worst of Storm Bert is still to come, according to UK power officals.
Winds of up to 70mph are forecast to batter coastal areas and, as temperatures rise on Saturday, melting snow and heavy rain are causing flooding, reports the PA news agency.
The National Grid said about 4,000 homes in its region of the Midlands, south-west England and south Wales, are without power.
Ross Easton, of Energy Networks Association (ENA) – which represents the UK’s power network operators, said:
There are a few localised weather-related power cuts in parts of Britain this morning. However, for most parts of the country the severe weather hasn’t yet had a significant impact.
Forecasters are describing this as a ‘multi-hazard event’ with the worst of the weather yet to arrive, and so our members have extra engineers and contact centre teams available, and control rooms are monitoring the storm closely as it develops.”
The M48 Severn Bridge in Gloucestershire was closed because of strong winds, and the A66 in County Durham was closed both ways between the A67 and A645 due to snow.
Traffic has been at a standstill on the M80 near Castlecary, North Lanarkshire, Scotland.
Meanwhile, flights were disrupted at Newcastle airport as heavy snow hit the north-east overnight and into Saturday morning. Some arrivals were diverted to Belfast and Edinburgh while the airport’s snow team tried to minimise disruption.
Six weather warnings remain in place and Scots are being urged not to travel “unless absolutely necessary” as Storm Bert continues to cause travel disruption across the country. Forecasters have predicted as much as 40cm of snow on high grounds in Scotland as central areas remain in an amber alert for snow and ice until 5pm today.
Avanti West Coast has cancelled its service between Edinburgh and Carlisle all day on Saturday with the next direct service from Carlisle not scheduled to run until Sunday afternoon, reports the PA news agency.
Farther south, heavy showers are hitting England. The Met Office forecasts heavy rain developing overnight and into Sunday for south-west and southern England, stretching from Oxford to Truro. The yellow warning is in place from 6am Saturday until 11.45pm on Sunday and up to 70mm of rain could fall during this time.
There is a chance that some places over Dartmoor could see 100-150mm of rainfall, the national weather service said.
A wind warning covers coastal areas of southern England and Wales from 9am on Saturday until 9pm on Sunday.
UK Power Networks, the operator for the east and south-east of England, has warned people to stay away from overhead power lines amid the gusts.
One of Scotland’s biggest bus firms has paused its services due to the impact of Storm Bert.
Lothian Buses, which operates the majority of routes in Edinburgh, as well as services in East Lothian, Midlothian and West Lothian, said buses had been halted due to safety concerns.
In a post on X, the firm said:
Due to adverse weather across the network, buses are unable to continue due to safety concerns.
We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused, and thank you for your patience while our teams work to assess routes.”
Ealier we reported on the flood alerts and warning issued across England and provided a link to a live Gov.uk map for updates.
Natural Resources Wales has an interactive map showing 31 flood alerts and one flood warning (River Loughor at Ammanford and Llandybie) currently.
Across Scotland, there are now six flood alerts and one flood warning (Churchill Barriers), according to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa). You can check live updates here.
The Irish meteorological service, Met Éireann, has a yellow wind warning for Cork, Kerry, Waterford, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford and Wicklow. It also has issued a yellow gale warning for all coasts of Ireland and on the Irish Sea. All warnings are updated here.
A yellow wind warning has also been issued by the Met Office for Northern Ireland. The Belfast Live is reporting “severe flooding” across Northern Ireland, citing the West Belfast MLA, Danny Baker:
Twinbrook, close to Aspen is completely blocked & Mckinstry/ 4 Laner/ Stewartstown Road now very dangerous.
Colin Connect is badly flooded and road just about passable, Michael Ferguson Roundabout/ Dunmurry Lane and bottom of Suffolk also flooded.
Everywhere is being reported but the impact is so severe this may take sometime and weather warnings are still in place. Please be careful.”
Updated
Here are some of the latest images from around the country:
Scots are being urged not to travel “unless absolutely necessary”.
As we’ve reported, major roads have been closed following multiple crashes, while trains and ferries have been cancelled amid strong winds, heavy rain, snow and ice.
Emergency services closed junctions 13 and 14 of the M74 following a crash at around 7am.
Traffic Scotland has warned of “extremely poor driving conditions” in the area.
The Met Office says:
Heavy snow will spread north-eastwards on Saturday morning, giving significant accumulations in many areas.
Accumulations of 10-20cm are likely on ground typically above 200m, with potentially as much as 20-40 cm on hills above 400m.
Snow will eventually revert to rain during Saturday afternoon but may be preceded by a short spell of freezing rain in places adding to the ice risk.
Strengthening winds will lead to drifting of lying snow, with difficult travelling conditions likely on higher level routes, and the risk of interruptions to power supplies.
A fairly rapid thaw of lying snow is then likely on Saturday night as milder air moves in.
The Queensferry Crossing across the Firth of Forth in Scotland has been closed as a safety precaution due to Storm Bert.
According to The Herald, the decision to close the crossing at 10.20am was made after ice was observed falling from the bridge’s stay cables above the carriageway. It cited the road maintenance and management firm, BEAR Scotland, as diverting drivers via the Forth Bridge.
Dave Bishop, BEAR Scotland’s south-east unit bridges manager, told the publication:
A diversion via the Forth Road Bridge is currently being opened and we expect traffic to be on the move again within the hour. Drivers are advised to adhere to Red X signs for safety or there could be longer wait times for the diversion to be activated.”
In a post on X at 10.35am, Traffic Scotland wrote:
The M90 is CLOSED in both directions for the safety reasons.
Traffic will instead divert on to the Forth Road Bridge. Traffic is slow on approach with traffic temporarily held to set-up the diversion.”
It also posted an update at 11.35am saying that the M80 northbound at juntion seven was blocked “due to two HGV’s which have lost traction”. It added that traffic was being held while gritters and ploughs treated the area.
Updated
Our pictures team have shared these images coming in this morning on the newswires:
A Championship football match in Lancashire has been postponed due to torrential rain, reports the PA news agency.
Blackburn Rovers were to face Portsmouth at Ewood Park at 3pm on Saturday but the match will now be played at a later date.
In a post on X, Blackburn Rovers said:
Due to an unplayable pitch caused by torrential rain, today’s match against Portsmouth at Ewood Park has been postponed by the match official.
We will announce details of the rearranged fixture in due course.”
Manchester airport and Edinburgh airport have told the PA news agency that they do not anticipate disruption due to Storm Bert.
A spokesperson for Manchester airport said:
If there are strong gusts when planes come in to land they might do a go around but we are not anticipating any disruption.”
49 flood alerts in place across England
According to the Gov.uk website, there are now 49 flood alerts across the England and one flood warning.
Flood alerts mean that flooding is possible, whereas a flood warning shows that flooding is expected. The flood warning in place is for rivers in Accrington and Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, with Gov.uk saying that heavy rain from Storm Bert is expected to cause flooding in those areas from 11am on Saturday morning.
The areas most at risk include the River Hyndburn, Woodnook and Broad Oak Water, Antley Syke, Pleck, Hynburn, Tinker, Lottice and Whiteash Brooks in Accrington and Oswaldtwistle. It adds that this is comprising Dunnyshop, Baxenden, Lower Fold, Peel Bank, Barnfield and Little Moor End.
Weather conditions are expected to improve this afternoon and no further flooding is expected, it states.
A live flood map is available on the Gov.uk website.
Updated
Here are some of the Storm Bert related images from the last 24 hours on the newswires:
Dublin airport has said that while “it’s wet and windy … flights are moving well”.
In an update at 10am on Saturday, via a social media post, Dublin airport said a “very small number” of departing flights had experienced delays due to wind conditions, but no flights have been cancelled so far.
It advised passengers to ontact their airline directly for updates regarding specific flights.
Flights disrupted at Newcastle airport as Storm Bert brings heavy snow to the north-east
The PA news agency has some additional detail on reports that Newcastle International airport flights have been disrupted.
It reports that the airport’s online departure board shows many flights scheduled to depart this morning have been delayed, while the 9.30am British Airways service to Heathrow was cancelled.
The live arrival board shows flights diverted to Belfast and Edinburgh, it adds.
Updated
Passengers have reported travel disruption at Newcastle International airport and at Leeds Bradford airport on social media this morning, the Mirror reports. It noted that Newcastle International had not yet confirmed whether flights have been suspended.
In its latest update on X, Newcastle International airport wrote:
Due to Storm Bert, the airport has had continuous, heavy snow this morning.
Our snow team is operational and are working hard to keep any disruption to a minimum and we will provide a further update later this morning.
Passengers are advised to visit our website for the latest flight information and to contact their airline directly if they have any queries.”
Leeds Bradford airport has said that its runway is expected to reopen at 10am after teams worked to clear overnight and ongoing snowfall. It added that its terminal is continuing to operate as normal.
Updated
Further to the news that high winds have caused power outages for 60,000 homes, businesses and farms in Ireland (see 9.48am GMT), the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) has released a statement saying that its crews are mobilised in affected areas and responding to faults where it is safe to do so.
The ESB add that further power outages, as a result of Storm Bert, cand be expected. It advises checking estimated restoration times via PowerCheck.ie and ESBNetworks.ie.
It also warns the public not to touch or approach fallen wires or damaged electricty networks as they are live and extremely dangerous.
About 60,000 power cuts reported as Storm Bert sweeps across Ireland
Several areas have been hit by flooding and power cuts after Storm Bert swept across the Ireland overnight on Friday, reports the PA news agency.
The Electricity Supply Board (ESB) said that high winds had caused power outages for 60,000 customers, with the worst affected counties including Donegal, Sligo, Mayo, Galway, Cavan, Monaghan, Kerry and Cork.
Status red rain warnings were issued by forecasters for Cork and Galway until 10am on Saturday, while an orange alert for rain was in place for 10 hours for counties Waterford, Kerry, Clare, Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim.
A yellow alert for wind and rain warnings remains in place for most counties until midday on Saturday, with a snow-ice warning in place for County Donegal.
According to the PA news agency, Cork airport said it was operating normally despite the weather conditions, while images posted online appeared to show that the River Feale in west Limerick had burst its banks.
There has also been major flooding on Bridge Street in Killybegs, County Donegal, while flooding has also been reported in Galway.
Flooding and gusty winds are expected across Ireland on Saturday, according to forecasters Met Eireann, but will ease off in the mid-afternoon before more heavy rain moves in from the west.
In Northern Ireland, a yellow alert for rain and snow is in place across the region from midnight until 11am on Saturday, while a wind warning is in place until Saturday evening.
Police urged motorists to take extra care on a number of roads in the Newtownards area because of the impact of poor weather conditions on Saturday. It said that a fallen tree on the Belfast Road and on the Springvale Road, between Ballyhalbert and Ballywalter, has blocked both lanes.
The PSNI said a shed roof has been blown on to the Ballyquinn Road, Dungiven and is causing an obstruction, and there is a heavy buildup of traffic in the Dunhill Road area of Coleraine because of snow.
Ferry operator DFDS has cancelled services on some routes until Monday with sailings from Newhaven to Dieppe and Dover to Calais being severely affected.
Winds of up to 68mph recorded on Saturday and 13cm snow falls in parts of UK, say Met Office
Storm Bert is battering the UK with strong winds, heavy rain and snow and ice with amber warnings coming into force bringing a “potential risk to life and property”.
Travel is widely disrupted with roads closed and some train routes cancelled throughout Saturday with rail companies urging passengers to avoid travelling to certain areas.
Winds of up to 68mph have been recorded and 13cm of snow has fallen in some parts of the country on Saturday morning, a Met Office spokesperson said, reports the PA news agency.
National Highways has issued a “severe weather alert” for snow affecting Yorkshire and north-east England with “blizzard conditions” expected and up to five hours of heavy snow set to “accumulate quickly at all levels”.
The Met Office has issued an amber warning for snow and ice for parts of Scotland and northern England, with a “good chance some rural communities could be cut off”. Amber warnings mean there is the potential for risk to life and property.
“Travel delays on roads are likely, stranding some vehicles and passengers” the national weather service said.
Met Office meteorologist Craig Snell said the effects of the storm would continue throughout the weekend. “We expect the worst of the snow to pass by 12pm in Yorkshire but there will be some heavy rain and travelling conditions throughout the day will be pretty poor,” he said.
He told the PA news agency there was 13cm of snow measured in Leek in Staffordshire on Saturday morning and 68mph winds in Brixham, Devon.
“As milder weather comes in snow will melt, leading to pretty hazardous conditions,” Snell said.
The PA news agency has some more travel disruption updates:
The M48 Severn Bridge in Gloucestershire is closed in both directions between J1 and J2 due to strong winds and National Highways has advised motorists to use the M4 Prince of Wales Bridge.
Avanti West Coast, which runs the west coast mainline services, has cancelled its services north of Preston all day.
Weather warnings and 16 flood alerts come into effect across the UK
Weather warnings and 16 flood alerts have come into effect across the UK. Here are all the details we have so far on them, via the PA news agency:
Yorkshire and northern England
National Highways issued a “severe weather alert” for snow affecting Yorkshire and north-east England between 5am and 3pm on Saturday.
A second amber warning will be in place between 7am and midday on Saturday covering parts of Yorkshire and the north-east of England.
Rain and snow warnings cover northern England from 4am to 9am on Saturday.
Scotland
An amber alert for heavy snow and ice is in force between 7am and 5pm on Saturday in areas across Scotland, where 10-20cm is likely on ground above 200 metres and as much as 20-40cm on hills above 400 metres.
The weather warning covers parts of Angus, Perth and Kinross, Stirlingshire, Aberdeenshire and some of the Highlands, Argyll and Bute, the Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire. Perth and Kinross council cancelled its annual Perth Christmas lights switch-on event over safety and travel concerns.
Wind warnings cover Scotland from 5am until 7pm on Saturday.
Wales and the south-west of England
Over the weekend, Wales and the south-west of England are at risk of seeing 75mm of rain widely, and more than 100mm over the higher parts of south Wales and Dartmoor.
Strong winds are expected to strike the southern coast with gusts of more than 70mph in places. A wind warning covers coastal areas of southern England from 3pm until 9pm on Saturday.
Rain warnings cover much of Wales from 6am on Saturday until 6am on Sunday, and south-west England from 6am on Saturday until 11.45pm.
Northern Ireland
Rain and snow warnings cover Northern Ireland from midnight on Friday until 11am on Saturday.
Elsewhere
Yellow wind, rain and snow warnings cover much of the rest of the UK on Saturday and into Sunday.
Met Office meteorologist, Aidan McGivern, said Storm Bert’s arrival was after a “relatively quiet” night on Friday with temperatures at around -4C across parts of Scotland and -1C in eastern England.
Roads, rail and ferries hit by Storm Bert travel disruptions
Storm Bert has begun to make an impact in the UK with snow closing roads and strong rains and winds expected to cause further travel disruption and potential flooding.
#StormBert is expected to bring several weather impacts across the UK on Saturday ⚠️
— Met Office (@metoffice) November 22, 2024
Here is an overview of what we can expect
Stay #WeatherAware ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/HWsihjB5tB
Here are some of the travel disruptions reported so far by the PA news agency:
In Scotland, there will be speed restrictions on the West Highland Line, Highland Mainline, Stranraer line, Glasgow South western Line, Far North Line, and west coast mainline between Carstairs and the border.
ScotRail has withdrawn services from Inverness to Elgin, Aberdeen to Inverurie, and Glasgow Queen Street to Oban while trains from Glasgow Central to Carlisle will terminate at Dumfries.
CalMac – a ferry operator which serves the west coast of Scotland – has cancelled several sailings on Saturday with disruption expected on many other services.
P&O Ferries said it had cancelled the 4am sailing between Larne in Northern Ireland and Cairnryan in Scotland’s south west on Saturday.
South Western Rail (SWR) asked passengers to only travel west of Basingstoke if their journeys are essential.
SWR announced services between Exeter and London Waterloo will start and finish at Basingstoke, that journey times will be longer between Salisbury and Exeter and between Bournemouth and Weymouth due to speed restrictions, and services across its network will start later than usual on Sunday and Monday because of safety inspections.
TransPennine Express “strongly” urged customers not to travel north of Carlisle on Saturday while Avanti West Coast advised passengers not to travel north of Preston – including Lancaster, Oxenholme, Penrith, Carlisle, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
National Highways issued a “severe weather alert” for snow affecting Yorkshire and north-east England between 5am and 3pm on Saturday.
In Yorkshire, the A628 remained closed overnight in both directions between the A616 Hollingworth and the A57 Flouch due to snow, National Highways announced.
The A66 Trans-Pennine route was closed between the A6 and the M6 (J40).
UK airports are not anticipating disruption. A spokesperson for Birmingham airport said:
“Whilst we are not anticipating disruption at this time … we will continue to keep a close eye on the situation, as Storm Bert moves in.”
Manchester airport said “we’re expecting bad weather but aren’t anticipating any disruption” while Newcastle airport said it will be operating as normal overnight with teams “fully prepared to respond should conditions deteriorate”.
Updated
Met Office warn of 'multiple hazard event' as Storm Bert to bring snow, ice, heavy rain and strong winds to the UK
New national severe weather warnings have been issued for the weekend by the Met Office as Storm Bert has begun to make an impact with snow closing roads and strong rains and winds expected to cause further travel disruption and potential flooding.
Weather warnings and 16 flood alerts have come into effect across the UK, as the Met Office described the forecasted weather as a “multiple hazard event” due to Storm Bert binging with it snow, ice, heavy rain and gale force winds.
Met Office meteorologist, Aidan McGivern, said:
We’ll see two to four hours of heavy snow across parts of northern England and Scotland during Saturday morning. This snow will accumulate thick and fast, with five to 10cm at lower levels and as much as 20 to 40cm over hills accompanied by strong winds.
You can expect blizzards over hills across northern England and Scotland, atrocious conditions for travelling and going over the hills and also the risk of power interruptions because of snow build up on power lines.
So all in all, a multiple hazard event as we go into Saturday morning.”
The PA news agency reports that rail companies urged passengers to avoid travelling to certain areas and some warned of reduced services while National Highways issued a “severe weather alert” for snow affecting Yorkshire and north-east England between 5am and 3pm on Saturday.
In Yorkshire, the A628 remained closed overnight in both directions, while ferry operator CalMac – which serves the west coast of Scotland – has cancelled several sailings on Saturday with disruption expected on many other services.
McGivern also stressed that temperatures will rise quickly as the storm brings with it milder air from the Atlantic, resulting in a “rapid thaw” by the afternoon.
The meteorologist said:
The melting snow and the heavy rain could lead to localised flooding in places but the wettest spots would be Wales, in the south-west, particularly over south-facing hills, that’s where we’re likely to see gales and certainly the risk of impacts from wind as well as from rain.”
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