Storm Ciarán news live: UK set for washout bonfire weekend as Storm Domingos to slam into Europe
Death toll in Europe rises to 12 as cars swept away as downpours flood hospitals in Italy
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Your support makes all the difference.With the worst of Storm Ciarán now over for Brits Storm Domingos is moving across the Atlantic and is expected to slam into Europe on Saturday.
The worst of Domingos is expected to hit northern Spain and western France along the Bay of Biscay, where gusts in excess of 60 mph are possible in addition to heavy rain.
Despite the centre of Ciarán now over the North Sea, many British Bonfire Night events have been cancelled or postponed with added travel disruption expected.
The Met Office issued a yellow weather notice for heavy rain across the south and south west of England lasting from 5am on Saturday to 11.59pm.
A yellow weather warning for rain has been issued for Saturday as 42 flood warnings remain in place as downpours are expected to hamper down ahead of bonfire night.
Dozens of flood warnings remain in place across the South coast with a few in the East of England and several scattered around North Yorkshire as rivers reach their limit.
Thunderstorms are likely to catch in the southeast as up to 30-40mm are expected in the coastal regions.
The Met Office said: “A spell of heavy rain early in the day clears northwards but is followed by fairly frequent heavy and blustery showers.”
It comes as at least 12 people have died across Europe as Storm Ciarán unleashed chaos and widespread flooding, while thousands of homes in the UK are still without power.
Have you been affected by Storm Ciarán? Email barney.davis.ind@independent.co.uk
Cars abandoned in deep floodwater as Storm Ciaran batters Jersey
A number of cars were left abandoned in waist-deep floodwater as Storm Ciaran battered Jersey on Thursday 2 November. Travel was heavily disrupted in the morning as roads and rail tracks were blocked with fallen debris and flights were cancelled. On Friday, the threat of flooding remains high in the south of England as the UK feels the after-effects of the devastating storm. Almost 90 flood warnings are in place with more than 235 flood alerts stretching up through the country, after the south coast and the Channel Islands were battered with heavy rain and gusts of up to 100mph yesterday.
AI company trialled to predict power outages caused by storms
A power company is trialling the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to predict faults in the electricity network so it can restore power to homes faster.
ScottishPower Energy Networks (SPEN) is using AI technology to better pinpoint potential faults caused by severe weather and ensure engineers and equipment are mobilised to tackle problems when - and even before - they occur.
The firm, which serves more than three million homes and businesses across the UK, has described the £5 million Predict4Resilience project as “revolutionary” as it will use AI to predict where outages could occur up to a week in advance.
The technology will use historic weather and fault data along with network asset and landscape information to develop machine learning models.
This will be combined with real-time weather forecasting to inform control room staff where bad weather will hit and what kind of damage to expect with improved accuracy.
Travel disruption continues
Rail services remain disrupted as the UK feels the after-effects of the devastating Storm Ciaran.
LNER, the main train operator on the East Coast Main Line between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh Waverley, advised passengers not to travel until Saturday.
A significant number of delays and cancellations was expected as trains and staff are out of position following power supply failures at both ends of the route on Thursday.
A power surge caused a signalling failure at Edinburgh Waverley, while damage to overhead wires in the Peterborough area led to the line being blocked.
Several other train operators also warned over disruption on Friday while debris from Storm Ciaran was cleared from tracks.
The threat of flooding remains high in the south of England.
Storm Ciarán: More than 200 flood warnings and alerts across UK - see your area
Storm Ciaran has arrived, bringing destruction in its wake including roofs ripped off houses, damaged cars- and smashed windows.
The Environment Agency has issued flood warnings and alerts across much of the country, including dozens along the south coast.
Thousands of homes are still without power after heavy storms lashed against the southcoast of England on Thursday.
More than 200 flood warnings and alerts across UK amid Storm Ciaran - see your area
Major incident as Met Office issues weather warnings for heavy rain and strong winds across large swathes of the country
Yellow weather warnings in place for Friday and Saturday
A yellow rain warning will be in place from 5am to midnight on Saturday across all of southern England, including Cornwall, Kent and the Isle of Wight.
There will be frequent heavy and blustery showers throughout the day, with the odd thunderstorm and 30 to 40mm of rainfall possible in coastal, south-eastern areas.
Oli Claydon, spokesperson for the Met Office, said: “[It is] all being driven by another area of low pressure that’s crossing the United Kingdom through Saturday.
“Obviously it’s nothing urgent or to the same extent as we saw with Storm Ciaran, and that will clear out into the North Sea by the time we get to Saturday evening.”
Another yellow rain warning is currently in place in north-east Scotland until 5pm and may cause some disruption.
More broadly on Friday, it remains blustery along the east coast and a few showers still persist, particularly in western areas, but it is “nothing much to be too concerned about”, Mr Claydon said.
Winds from Storm Ciarán whip up a wildfire in Spain
A wildfire abetted by storm winds in eastern Spain has burned some 2,000 hectares (4,900 acres) of land and forced the evacuation of 850 people from four towns, officials said Friday.
Some 200 firefighters and army emergency unit soldiers were deployed to try to extinguish the day-old blaze near the eastern town of Montitxelvo. The regional government of Valencia said it hoped five water-carrying planes and helicopters would be deployed in the operation.
Regional president Carlos Mazón called on people to avoid travel in the area or activities in forests that could start fires.
Winds from Storm Ciarán whip up a wildfire in Spain
A wildfire abetted by winds from Storm Ciarán has burned some 2,000 hectares (4,900 acres) of land in eastern Spain and forced the evacuation of 850 people from four towns
More yellow weather warnings to come this weekend
Storm Ciaran has largely eased but more yellow weather warnings will continue to affect the UK this weekend.
The Met Office said the storm had now moved into the North Sea, but parts of Scotland and southern England would continue to see heavy rain on Friday and Saturday.
It comes after Storm Ciaran battered the south coast and the Channel Islands with heavy rain and gusts of up to 100mph on Thursday, leaving nearly 150,000 homes without power.
A yellow rain warning will be in place from 5am to midnight on Saturday across all of southern England, including Cornwall, Kent and the Isle of Wight.
There will be frequent heavy and blustery showers throughout the day, with the odd thunderstorm and 30 to 40mm of rainfall possible in coastal, south-eastern areas.
Another yellow rain warning is currently in place in north-east Scotland until 5pm and may cause some disruption.
After Ciarán what next? Storm names revealed for 2023
Nearly 150,000 homes were left without power after Storm Ciarán caused severe weather with widespread flooding and damage across the UK and Europe.
The UK is reeling under the after-effects of the devastating Storm Ciarán that recorded gust winds of more than 100mph in Jersey with strong winds and rains predicted for some parts of the country today.
This week’s storm was named after Ciarán Fearon, a civil servant who works for the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland.
The storm that battered Britain late last month - Babet - was named by Dutch weather service KMNI after a woman who visited an open day at its headquarters and put her own name forward, as she said she “was born during a storm”.
Storm Agnes was the first official storm of the season, named after Agnes Mary Clerke, an Irish astronomer and science writer.
What storm will strike next?
After Ciarán what next? Storm names revealed for 2023
This weeks storm was named after Ciarán Fearon, a civil servant who works for the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland.
Why the UK is vulnerable to flooding
Prof Trevor Hoey, a Professor of River Science at Brunel University London and director of the Centre for Flood Risk and Resilience, explains why the UK is vulnerable to flooding and how the government is managing flood risk.
He said: “On a global scale, we are not as vulnerable as many other parts of the world, so we shouldn't overstate our vulnerability. However, we are vulnerable to flooding because we are located in a relatively wet part of the world so we are always going to get a lot of rain-bearing weather systems coming our way, and periodically, those are going to be very intense, heavy, prolonged rain, even in the absence of climate change.
“There are always going to be periods where you get clusters of wet conditions that will give rise to flooding. On top of this, we are living in an era of climate change. And there is evidence that things are getting worse.”
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