Storm Ali leaves two dead amid new warnings of rain and gales
GALES and torrential rain are set to batter parts of Wales over the coming days as Storm Ali sweeps across the country.
Three weather warnings have been issued by the Met Office as the nation faces deeply unsettled weather until Monday.
The alerts came as Ali yesterday left two people in Ireland dead in its wake and wind speeds of more than 100mph.
The Met Office updated and issued the yellow weather warnings yesterday morning. The first is for strong winds until 9am today covering most of south, south-east and east Wales including Swansea, Cardiff, Newport, the south Wales Valleys and most of Powys.
The Met Office warns “very strong winds” could damage buildings with tiles blown from roofs and falling trees and branches.
A spokesman said there was also a small chance of power cuts, longer journey times, roads and bridges closing and injuries and danger on seafronts through “large waves and beach material being thrown onto seafronts”.
He added: “Most likely is that we will see gusts of 45-50mph in a few spots inland as well as more widely around exposed coasts. The strong winds will accompanied by shortlived outbreaks of very heavy rain in places.”
The second warning is for persistent and heavy rain from 4am until 10pm today and covers all of Wales. The Met Office is warning of spray and flooding on roads, which will probably making journey times longer, disruption to bus and train services, some interruption to power supplies and other services likely and flooding of a few homes and business is likely.
It says: “An area of rain is expected to move northeast across many parts of the UK on Thursday. Rain is likely to be most persistent and heaviest across parts of Wales and northwest England.
“Between 40-60 mm of rain is likely widely across the warning area, whilst some of the higher ground of Wales and perhaps Cumbria could see 80-100 mm. In addition to the rain, strong winds and coastal gales can be expected across southern parts of the warning area.”
The third warning is for high winds from 9am Sunday until 9am on Monday and covers the whole of Wales.
The Met Office expects a second very windy spell lasting throughout Sunday and into Monday morning.
Detail on the warning is not as clear, but the Met Office has said there is the potential for a deep area of low pressure to develop and track over the UK bringing a spell of very strong winds and heavy rain.
Meanwhile, yesterday in Ireland a woman was killed after the caravan she was in was blown off a cliff, while a man died after being hit by a tree as he worked in a country park.
A second man was injured during the incident at Slieve Gullion Park in County Armagh yesterday afternoon.
The man who died was aged in his 20s. The injured man, who is aged in his 40s, was taken to hospital.
Earlier, the body of a woman was found after a search on a beach at Claddaghduff, Co Galway.
The caravan she was in was lifted by strong winds and blown down a rocky incline of some 15 feet.The caravan could be seen smashed to pieces on rocks and on the sand.
Elsewhere, a woman was seriously injured after a tree fell on to her car in Tarporley, Cheshire.
In Scotland, emergency services were called to rescue a man who became trapped beneath a digger in a river during strong winds and more than 70,000 homes were left without power. Gusts of 102.2mph hit the Tay Road Bridge in Dundee at 3pm.
Elsewhere, tug boats were called to the Nautica cruise ship which slipped its berth in Greenock.
Strong winds saw the vessel – which had 478 passengers and 26 crew – leave the dock after its mooring lines parted. There were no reports of injuries.
The Met Office said gusts of 91mph hit Killowen in County Down, 77mph winds were recorded in Kirkcudbrightshire in Scotland, 74mph gusts hit Capel Curig in Wales and 68mph was recorded in St Bees Head, Cumbria.
While southern parts of England and Wales could reach continued unseasonable highs of up to 240C (750F), it was expected to feel cooler due to the strong winds, Met Office meteorologist Mark Wilson said.
The unsettled weather is due to last right through the week, but an improvement is expected early next week as drier weather is set to take hold.
Ali is first on the storm names list for 2018-19 announced by the Met Office and Met Eireann, which has run the Name Our Storms scheme for four years.