Storm Betty: Met Office warns 70mph winds could cause danger to life

Storm Betty is set to bring gusts of up to 70mph winds as the Met Office warns of a danger to life. A yellow alert was in place ^[1] up to 6pm today covering Anglesey ^[2], Gwynedd ^[3] and Conwy ^[4].

The Met Office has now issued a fresh 18 hour yellow warning, continuing from 6pm until midday tomorrow (Saturday), covering the same North Wales counties and other parts of the UK. People have been warned of potential travel disruption, power cuts and damage to buildings.

A Met Off forecast said: "Storm Betty is expected to bring a swathe of very strong and gusty winds to the Isles of Scilly early Friday evening, quickly transferring north across many western parts of the UK overnight and into Saturday morning. Strongest winds will be along south to southwest facing coasts where gusts of 60-70mph are possible, whilst gusts of 45-55mph are possible elsewhere.

"Given the time of year, with trees in full leaf, as well as likely temporary structures such as tents and marquees, some disruption is likely. Impacts on high-sided vehicles and caravans are also likely."

The Met Office warned some damage to buildings, such as tiles blown from roofs, could happen, road, rail, air and ferry services may be affected, with longer journey times and cancellations possible and some roads and bridges may close. They added that power cuts may occur, with the potential to affect other services, such as mobile phone coverage, while injuries and danger to life could occur from large waves and beach material being thrown onto sea fronts, coastal roads and properties.

Met Office Chief Meteorologist Jason Kelly said: “Friday and Saturday will see unseasonably wet and windy conditions for much of the UK. While Storm Betty will have higher impacts in Ireland, exposed Irish Sea coasts of the UK could see gusts in excess of 70mph, with around 50mph more widely. Storm Betty is also bringing some large accumulations of rainfall for the time of year, with some spots of Northern Ireland seeing around 80mm of rain, though between 15-25mm is expected more widely.

Strong waves at high tide batter Old Colwyn in 2019 (Image: Hadyn Iball)

"Parts of Scotland could see similarly high accumulations, especially over higher ground.” Betty is the second storm named by the storm naming group of Met Éireann, the Met Office and KNMI following Storm Antoni earlier in August.

This is the second time since storm naming was introduced in 2015 that two storms have been named in August, following Ellen and Francis in August 2020. Saturday will see the remnants of Storm Betty move north and leave behind some showers in western areas of the UK, though western Scotland will hold on to more persistent rain through the day.

The set up for Sunday and next week is for sunshine and showers to be the main theme of the forecast, with a westerly weather ^[6] regime for the UK. Northern and western areas will see the most-frequent showers early next week, whereas further south and east there will be fewer showers and more in the way of sunshine, and it will feel warm here at times too.

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References

^{^} A yellow alert was in place (www.dailypost.co.uk)
^{^} Anglesey (www.dailypost.co.uk)
^{^} Gwynedd (www.dailypost.co.uk)
^{^} Conwy (www.dailypost.co.uk)
^{^} TV star says tourist tax will leave Welsh beaches 'completely deserted' (www.dailypost.co.uk)
^{^} weather (www.dailypost.co.uk)
^{^} Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter (www.dailypost.co.uk)