As Storm Bert brings heavy snow, rain and wind to the UK prompting ‘multi-hazard’ weather warnings, we want to know – are you worried the weather is getting more extreme?
In a ‘multi-hazard’ weather event, Storm Bert is set to bring snow, rain and wind to the UK throughout this weekend and we want to know – are you worried the weather is getting more extreme in the UK?
Several weather warnings have been put in place ahead of the storm, including two rare ‘danger to life’ amber alerts for snow and ice. Already the north has been blanketed in snow this morning, with 16 inches expected to fall this Saturday.
The extreme weather event comes after the UK was plunged into a deep freeze due to polar air moving southwards, with temperatures dropping below 0 degrees Celsius for the first time year in many areas. At Braemar in Aberdeenshire, locals saw temperatures as low as -11.2°C, while in Watnall, Nottinghamshire 12cm deep snow was reported.
Stormy weather is set to cause travel disruption and flooding across the weekend, particularly in South Wales. This morning, airports in Newcastle, Leeds and Bradford have been plunged into chaos after heavy snowfall on runways, leaving some holidaymakers ‘stranded on flights for hours’.
The Met Office said: “A deep area of low pressure is expected to bring a spell of prolonged and, at times, heavy rainfall across a large part of the UK this weekend. Across Wales and western England, rain and hill snow is expected to develop during the early hours of Saturday morning before falling as rain to all levels by late morning and continuing through to early Sunday morning.
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“50-75 mm of rain is expected to fall fairly widely with 100-125 mm of rain over higher ground, particularly in south Wales. There is a chance that prolonged heavy rain could become slow-moving over south Wales with up to 150 mm possible in a few places and it is here where impacts are most likely. Strong southerly winds will accompany the heavy rain and may locally exacerbate impacts.”
Storm Bert is expected to bring winds of up to 50mph in some areas of the UK. In London, a massive tree toppled over just inches away from a row of moving cars on Wimbledon Common.
Brits have been warned to expect that some communities could be cut off by floods, as well as possible power cuts and difficulties driving on roads due to spray. A yellow weather warning is in place across the whole of Wales, large of the swathes of the north and southwest of England and large areas of Scotland.
Met Office spokesman Oli Claydon has labelled Storm Bert a “multi-hazard event”. He said: “We’re looking at strong winds, some high snowfall accumulation, heavy rain, all in various different parts of the UK. So it’s quite a complex weather set-up for the weekend. Generally speaking, it’s a very unsettled weekend of weather ahead.”
Looking to the future, Brits are set to face more snow and ice from an Arctic blast in early December. A map from WXCharts indicates low pressure to the northwest of the UK on December 6 while another has most of the country coloured blue due to an icy air mass over the UK.
What do you think? Are you worried the weather is getting more extreme in the UK? Take our poll and have your say in the comments below.
