23 January - national forecast presented by Alex Deakin
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00:00Hello. As you probably know by now, Storm Eowyn is arriving. Red Met Office
00:06warnings have been issued for Northern Ireland, Central and South West
00:09Scotland for damaging winds on Friday. The storm itself has been steadily
00:14brewing during the course of Thursday, hiding under this massive cloud. It
00:19intensified somewhat through Wednesday night and continued to intensify during
00:24Thursday. Why? Well, it's all to do with the jet stream. A very powerful jet
00:30stream, a fast-moving ribbon of air, high up in the atmosphere, is picking this
00:34storm up and really developing it. The isobar is just popping out of it
00:40as it approaches the Republic of Ireland, bottoming out as it moves in just to the
00:45northwest of the UK. Its strongest winds on its southern flank, so the most
00:50dangerous gusts likely across central, southwestern Scotland and Northern
00:55Ireland during Friday, but it's going to be a very windy start right across the
01:00UK. More on the winds in a moment, but first of all let's get through tonight
01:05where many places actually dry and relatively calm over central and eastern
01:09parts of England. Showery rain clearing from Scotland, but then the storm moves
01:14in and it turns very wet in these western areas. There'll be snow over the
01:18hills of Northern Ireland, even at low levels for a time, and snow then moving
01:22into parts of Scotland, again particularly over the hills. We actually
01:26have a Met Office yellow warning in place for the snow, but it is, as I say,
01:30the winds that are the greatest cause for concern. Temperatures, well, they'll
01:34dip initially with the clearest skies, but these are the numbers by morning, so
01:37quite a bit milder than it has been over many a recent morning across the south,
01:42but obviously it's not going to feel all that pleasant with the heavy rain and
01:45the very, very strong winds. Okay, let's look at those winds in more detail. If we
01:50rewind the clock and look at this storm, as I said, the strongest winds in the
01:55southwestern quadrant really picking up during Thursday evening. This section
02:01here with the damaging gusts really ploughing into the west of the Republic
02:06of Ireland, but then for the morning rush hour across Northern Ireland as well.
02:10Southwesterly or westerly winds gusting 70, 80, 90 miles an hour, perhaps even more
02:17around exposed coasts. Then the storm system itself, the low heads its way
02:22across the Western Isles of Scotland with those dangerous gusts then just to
02:26the south across Western Scotland, but also potentially through the central
02:30belt of Scotland. Again, widely 70 mile an hour gusts, 80, 90 mile an hour gusts,
02:35possibly even a little bit more than that, again around exposed coasts. The
02:39system then heads to the north, but still damaging gusts of wind are possible
02:43across Northern Scotland even into Saturday. So the warnings in place, those
02:47red warnings, Central and Western Scotland, Northern Ireland in this zone,
02:51as I mentioned, 80, 90 mile an hour gusts, perhaps a hundred mile an hour gusts on
02:55exposed coasts. Flanking those red warnings, we have amber warnings where
02:59gusts of 70 to 80 miles an hour potentially are possible. And again,
03:05gusts a little bit stronger than that over coasts and hills. Yellow warning
03:09covering all parts, even further south where the winds won't be as intense, but
03:12nevertheless could cause some disruption. As I mentioned, there is also a snow
03:16warning in place across Scotland and a rain warning too for parts of Wales and
03:21southwest England after Thursday's rain. More rain could cause some flooding
03:26issues. The rain band itself is pretty broad, but it should tend to zip through
03:30because of the strength of the wind. And actually, although it'll be a wet and
03:34windy start over a good part of the UK, much of England and Wales turning quite a
03:38bit brighter through the afternoon. But that's when the strongest winds will be
03:42into Western Scotland. As I mentioned, there's damaging gusts and still some
03:47snow falling over the hills here also. It does turn a bit drier in Northern Ireland
03:51and the winds will ease a little bit, but it's still going to be a very, very
03:54windy day here. Temperatures will actually may dip a little bit as that
03:58weather front crosses further south, so seven or eight Celsius through the
04:02afternoon. And again, feeling colder with the winds and certainly feeling a lot
04:06colder with those very strong winds still across Northern Scotland. They will
04:10continue here through Friday evening, the amber warning remaining in place into
04:15Saturday morning across Northern Scotland. But elsewhere, the weather does
04:19show signs of calming down a little bit during Friday night. As the winds start
04:24to ease under clear skies, there will be a frost, so it's likely to be a pretty
04:28cold start to the weekend. But at least we are going to say goodbye to that storm
04:33system. Still providing very strong winds across Northern Scotland early on, but
04:37even here they should ease down through the day. Good chunk of the country
04:40looking dry and bright on Saturday, good spells of sunshine, but heavy blustery
04:44showers will then return to Western parts come the afternoon. Temperatures
04:48pretty close to the average for the time of year. Now, out in the Atlantic, the jet
04:54stream remains pretty strong and so there is the potential for another
04:59pretty active area of low pressure. As we say goodbye to storm Eowyn on Saturday,
05:04this area of low pressure then approaches. Doesn't look as intense, but
05:08of course, these weather fronts will be providing more rain and after a couple
05:11of days of very heavy rain, that may cause some issues. And the isobars are
05:15still pretty close together. So yes, we do need to watch the winds on this
05:19system. As I said, unlikely to be as dangerous as Eowyn, but nevertheless
05:23could cause some disruption. We already have Met Office warnings in place for
05:27the second half of the weekend. Please check out all of the weather warnings
05:31for yourself on our app and on our website. And of course, we'll keep you
05:36updated on YouTube, so make sure you subscribe.