Major incident declared as Storm Ciarán batters UK coasts with heavy winds

Met Office warns of coastal gusts of 70mph to 80mph, with the potential for 85mph

A major incident has been declared on the south coast as Storm Ciarán arrives, with heavy winds battering the UK.

Two amber wind warnings, the second highest level of alert, are in place for parts of the south coast of England for when Storm Ciarán hits on Thursday, together with further yellow rain warnings, a lower level which means some disruption could be on the way.

The Met Office has warned of coastal gusts of 70mph to 80mph, with the potential for 85mph. People are being urged not to go near the water’s edge due to “very dangerous conditions”.

An amber warning is in place from 3am to 11am in Cornwall and Devon, with the Met Office predicting Storm Ciarán will bring winds of 75mph to 85mph, with 65mph to 75mph gusts inland. Videos of waves crashing against the coast in Cornwall were already being posted on social media late on Wednesday evening.

The major incident was declared by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Local Resilience Forum, with the local fire service warning that there was a “potential risk to life” as well as risk of damage to buildings, falling trees, and flooding.

Across the south coast, the amber warning runs from 6am to 5pm, with winds expected to reach 70mph to 80mph, with the potential for 85mph and large waves.

A red wind warning, the highest level, was issued by Jersey Met for Wednesday into Thursday, with people warned to avoid outside activity due to predicted gusts of almost 100mph.

Northern Ireland has already seen flooding, where a yellow rain warning from the Met Office was in place until 9am on Wednesday.

A similar notice was issued for southern parts of England and Wales from 6pm on Wednesday until the end of Thursday.

A yellow warning for rain is also in place from 6am on Thursday to 6am on Friday for north-east England and Scotland, stretching up to Inverness.

People are being urged by the Environment Agency to prepare for “possible significant flooding” across parts of England from Wednesday to Friday, with some significant coastal impacts also possible but not expected on Thursday.

The mobile barriers at Exeter, which are part of the flood defence scheme, are being deployed and demountable and temporary barriers are already in place or ready to be installed along the River Severn.