Extreme weather –
The Eowyn storm strikes Ireland and the United Kingdom with record winds
More than 800,000 households were deprived of electricity after the storm. Gusts were measured at more than 183 km/h near Galway (Ireland).
Posted today at 1:52 p.m.
A tree fell on Cyprus avenue, east of Belfast, in Northern Ireland, January 24, 2025, while the Eowyn storm hit the country.
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The Eowyn storm strikes Scotland on Friday after swallowing Ireland with record winds, which disturbed transport and schools and private electricity more than 800,000 households.
The British meteorology agency, the Met Office, announced at the end of the morning that it has extended the perimeter of the red alert in force in certain parts of the Scotland.
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The storm “causes destructive winds” which reached 138 km/h in the south of Scotland, and exceeded 145 km/h in Northern Ireland, said the Met Office.
A “very serious” situation
In Glasgow, the city streets were deserted, the authorities who called people to stay at home. In Edinburgh, the Scottish Parliament will not sit.
The situation is “very serious”, warned Scottish Prime Minister John Swinney on X, by relaying the prudence messages broadcast by the police.
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A little earlier, Eowyn swept away Ireland, where the winds broke records, with gusts measured at 183 km/h near Galway, on the west coast, beyond the previous record of 1945.
In this same area, the average wind speed reached 135 km/h, unprecedented power, according to the Irish meteorological agency puts Eireann.
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A “historic” storm
“It is a historic storm,” Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said on X, who came in power Thursday, who held a crisis meeting with the emergency services.
These winds and the rains that accompany them lead to significant disruptions, especially in transport, and more than 715,000 households, shops and businesses are without electricity.
“The electrical infrastructure has undergone extensive and important, unprecedented damage,” the public operator of electricity ESB said in a statement, which has already warned that their restoration would take “several days”.
-An ambulance goes to the scene of an accident caused by violent winds on the A19 north of England on January 24, 2025.
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At Cork, Shannon, Dublin airports, many flights were canceled. Dublin airport announced on X the abolition of around 230 flights on Friday morning.
The Irish Water water supplier warned that more than 150,000 buildings could see their supply of disturbed water.
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The red alert, which covered the whole of the island early Friday, no longer concerned midday that a small portion in the north of the territory.
Red alert
In Northern Ireland, where 93,000 households are without electricity, according to the operator Nie Networks. The red alert with strong winds has been in force since 08:00. This is the first time that such a alert has been decreed in the British province since the implementation of this system in 2011.
The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Michelle O’Neill, warned that the province was “in the eye of the cyclone”.
“We call on the population to stay safe, to be very cautious and to take all precautions to ensure that you do not make unnecessary trips. Please stay at home if you can, ”she said on BBC Ulster radio.
Schools do not welcome students on Friday, trains and buses do not circulate.
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The rest of the United Kingdom is also placed in a state of vigilance. The Environment Agency warned a risk of flooding in the south of England and the Midlands (center) in the coming days due to the expected bad weather.
This is the fifth storm striking Europe this season. The previous one, Darragh, had caused major disruptions in France in early December as well as in the United Kingdom, where she had left at least two dead.
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