AceBreakingNews – Storm Pia has brought strong winds to parts of Northern Ireland, with disruption possible throughout Thursday: Passengers are being warned against travelling as Storm Pia is expected to cause significant disruption: The Met Office also forecasts showers, with more rain expected on Friday

Ace Press News From Cutting Room Floor: Published: Dec.21: 2023: By Angie Phillips: BBC News NI weather presenter: TELEGRAM Ace Daily News Link https://t.me/+PuI36tlDsM7GpOJe

Strong winds cause travel issues as Storm Pia hits Scotland: A yellow warning for high winds covers the whole of Scotland

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for wind until 15:00 – gusts of 70-80mph are expected in northern Scotland.

Trains between Edinburgh and England have been cancelled and there is disruption on the ferries.

In Shetland, all schools have been closed due to the storm-force winds and there are power cuts in some areas.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks said more than 2,000 customers were affected in rural areas, including parts of South Uist, the isle of Lewis and Orkney.

Multiple power cuts have also been reported across Dumfries and Galloway. Properties in Collin, Terregles, Sanquhar, Carronbridge, Moniaive, Colvend, Kirkcudbright, Gatehouse and Leswalt are among those affected.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for most of Scotland and parts of England, Northern Ireland and Wales

Met Office: The yellow warning initially lasted until 21:00 GMT, but the Met Office has now changed that to 15:00 GMT.

Network Rail said many train services would only run once safety inspections had taken place, leading to some cancellations.

Rail operator Transpennnie Express (TPE) is “strongly” advising customers not to travel during the storm, asking customers to delay their journeys in and out of Edinburgh until after 15:00 GMT:

• Speed restrictions are in place for trains running to and from Edinburgh and and there are no services between the city and north-west England until Thursday afternoon
• The West Highland line, Kyle of Lochalsh line, and the Far North line, along with Inverness-Inverurie services, are all subject to inspections 
• Speed restrictions are in place in the central belt and the south of Scotland
• All bus services in Orkney are suspended due to the windy conditions
• School bus services in Sanday, Westray and Eday are cancelled but Orkney Islands council says schools are open there
• Ferry services across the west coast of Scotland have been cancelled, along with some services on the Stena Line route between Cairnryan and Belfast
• Pupils at Moffat Academy, Moffat Primary and St Mungo School in Dumfries and Galloway have also been sent home due to power outages
• The A83 Rest and Be Thankful is closed in both directions due to a HGV on its side

Travellers have been warned of “short-notice changes to journeys” on ScotRail services and are advised to check ahead, while additional engineers will be deployed to deal with any incidents.

Stephen Dixon, a Met Office spokesman, said: “It is quite a wide wind warning area. Gusts are forecast quite widely to be 45mph to 55mph, possibly 65mph to 70mph to the east of high ground in Scotland.

“The strongest winds are likely to be found in the north and north-east of Scotland, including the Northern Isles, with 70-80mph in the morning.”

Ferries in Shetland have been cancelled due to the windy conditions

Where will Storm Pia hit?

The Met Office yellow weather warning covers much of Scotland.

The strongest winds are likely to be across the far north and north-east of Scotland, including the Northern Isles during the morning, where gusts are set to reach up to 80mph.

The warning also covers Belfast, Newcastle upon Tyne and Manchester.

• 80mph Baltasound, Shetland
• 76mph Altnaharra, Highland 
• 72mph Fair Isle
• 70mph Lerwick, Shetland
• 70mph Wick Airport
• 69mph Loch Glascarnoch, Highland 
• 69mph Kirkwall, Orkney
• 67mph South Uist
• 65mph Drumalbin
• 65mph Dundrennan
• 64mph Stornoway

Named by the Danish met office, Pia is forecast to bring the strongest winds towards the north coast: Wind warning as Storm Pia moves in from Atlantic

Gusts of up to 45-55mph (72-88km/h) are expected, and could reach in excess of 60 mph (96 km/h).

Police have advised drivers of potential disruption due to fallen trees and debris throughout the day.

A Met Office weather warning, for potentially damaging winds, is in place until 15:00 GMT on Thursday. 

It has also urged people on the coast to be aware of large and potentially life-threatening waves.

Fallen trees 

TRANSLINK 

A fallen tree on a railway line has caused major travel disruption as trains are cancelled from Bangor to Belfast

In County Down, trains have been cancelled from Bangor to Belfast due to a fallen tree. Translink have warned of knock-on disruption. 

In Loughgall, the Drumilly Road has been closed at the junction of the Ballygasey Road due to a fallen tree. 

The Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has advised the public not to visit forests, country parks, and nature reserves until the winds subside.

Storm Pia has also sparked weather warnings across the Republic of Ireland from Irish weather service Met Éireann.

The organisation is warning of difficult driving and cycling conditions, large coastal waves, and debris with loose objects being displaced.

The winds are expected to subside by Thursday evening, but it will remain blustery with spells of rain. 

The outlook for the run up to Christmas is to remain mild but windy with gusty winds, often cloudy with spells of rain or showers.

Christmas Day should see temperatures dipping closer to average, at about seven or eight degrees.

Wet and very windy build up to Christmas Low pressure will dominate the weather in the UK through this week. Much of the south will see a spell of rain through Tuesday while frequent showers move into the north of the UK combined with sunny spells. These showers could fall as snow over the hills of Scotland.

Through Wednesday, brisk westerlies will bring further rain to most areas, and over the higher hills in Scotland the likelihood of a short spell of snow before it turns mild for most.

A notably deep area of low pressure will track to the north of the UK over the Norwegian Sea through Wednesday night and into Thursday. This will bring very strong winds and heavy showers to a large portion of the UK, with a Yellow National Severe Weather Warning covering Scotland, Northern Ireland, Northern England and the north of Wales. 

⚠️ Yellow weather warning issued ⚠️

Strong winds across central and northern areas of the UK

Thursday 0000 – 2359

Latest info 👉 https://t.co/QwDLMfRBfs

Stay #WeatherAware⚠️ pic.twitter.com/Z2OIi53HCd— Met Office (@metoffice) December 18, 2023

Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist, Helen Caughey, said: “Wind speeds will increase from the northwest through Wednesday evening and overnight, so that by Thursday there is a risk of  gusts of 50-60mph for a large swathe of central and northern parts of the UK. Coastal locations, higher ground, and areas to the east of high ground could see gusts of 70-80mph. Due to the scale of the low pressure to the north of the UK, it is possible this event could  persist across some areas into Friday, so we recommend keeping up to date with the Met Office forecast.”

It will remain windy as the area of low pressure moves away to the east across Scandinavia, with frequent showers continuing in western areas with the southeast of the UK remaining mostly dry. 

Christmas weather

Through the weekend a band of rain sinks south, initially with colder, showery conditions to the north and milder, wetter conditions to the south. As this clears south, a ridge of high pressure is likely to briefly build from the south-west. Wintry showers continue to feed in across the north and here colder conditions also mean rural areas will likely see a frost on Christmas morning. This colder interlude is likely to be short lived, as milder, more unsettled Atlantic conditions look to return from the west later on Christmas Day or early on Boxing Day. 

Helen continued: “As we begin Christmas Day wintry showers initially feeding in across the north in the colder air mass would technically make it a white Christmas, as we only need to see a single flake falling. Elsewhere, while it is likely at first to be mostly dry there is the potential for rain approaching from the west later on. As this moves east, we may see rain turning to snow, at least over high ground. It’s unlikely that we will see widespread or settling snow giving any proper accumulations. Although technically it might be a white Christmas, don’t get your hopes up for a picture-perfect white landscape.”

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