West set for Boxing Day battering as storm rolls in

THE Met Office has issued an ‘amber’ weather warning for strong winds across Devon and Cornwall as Storm Bella hits the Westcountry today.

The Exeter-based national weather forecaster said that “injuries and danger to life is likely” and the warning is in place from 10pm today, Boxing Day, until 9am on Sunday.

Gusts of wind up to 80mph are expected on exposed local coasts.

Yellow warnings for rain are also in place, and for wind from the afternoon, with people advised to check local forecasts.

THE Met Office has issued an ‘amber’ weather warning for Cornwall, Plymouth and other parts of Devon as Storm Bella hits the Westcountry today.

The Exeter-based national weather forecaster says that “injuries and danger to life is likely” and the warning is in place from 10pm today, December 26, until 9am on December 27.

Gusts of wind up to 80mph are expected on exposed local coasts.

The Met Office says Storm Bella will bring disruption to travel and utilities over parts of south and southeast England and south Wales.

Storm Bella is due to batter the region with both strong winds and also heavy rain, with yellow warnings in place from the afternoon.

It comes a week after dozens were rescued and homes and businesses flooded by heavy rain in the run-up to Christmas. The Eden Project in Cornwall is set remain closed into the new year after flash flooding triggered multiple landslides and the River Exe burst its banks while the River Lynher reached its highest recorded level.

Now the Met Office has warned more heavy rain is coming, with multiple Environment Agency flood warnings still in place.

The Exeter-based national weather forecaster said conditions across the UK will turn increasingly unsettled with strengthening winds and heavy rain moving in from the north. A part of Storm Bella, the yellow warning for rain across the region comes at the same time as an Amber warning for wind, which the Met Office warns could pose a “danger to life.”

Overlapping with the Amber wind warning, the yellow rain warning comes into force just four hours earlier, at 6pm today, Boxing Day, and will remain in place until 9am on the morning of Sunday 27 December.

With gusts of up to 80mph expected on exposed local coasts, The Met Office says Storm Bella will bring disruption to travel and utilities over parts of south and southeast England and south Wales.

The amber warning covers all of Cornwall, parts of north and south Devon – including Plymouth and Torbay – and North and East Devon.

A yellow warning for wind also covers all other areas, with a yellow warning for heavy rain also in place for some areas.

A result of the incoming storm, South West this weekend. Surf forecast website MagicSeaweed predicts wave sizes could top 26 feet in some places.

It currently predicts that areas such as Woolacombe in North Devon will see waves as high as 7.9m (26ft) at around 4pm on Sunday, December 27. Similar wave heights are expected in Croyde and Westward Ho! at around the same time.

In Devon, ‘ Red’ flood warnings, which tell residents flooding is expected and urges them to take immediate action, have been issued by the Environment Agency for: Curry Moor and Hay Moor, River Clyst from Broadclyst to Clyst St. Mary, River Exe at vulnerable riverside locations in Exeter, including Exeter Quay, River Exe from Tiverton to Exeter, including Bickleigh Washford River, riverside properties from Kingsbridge to Lower Roadwater.

Much of the rest of the South West is under Amber Flood warnings.

People are advised to check local forecasts for their area in advance of the storm.