Met Office names Storm Darragh as extreme weather heads for UK this weekend – with amber warning issued
An amber warning for wind has been issued for parts of the UK as Storm Darragh is expected to arrive late on Friday.
Forecasters said it was expected to bring “very strong winds and heavy rain” through the weekend, including gusts of up to 80mph around coasts.
The Met Office said “potentially damaging” winds of 60 to 70mph are likely inland when the amber warning comes into force between 3am and 9pm on Saturday.
Flooding could be a risk for some areas, especially where rain falls on already saturated ground following Storms Bert and Conall.
Get the five-day forecast where you are
The warning area covers the west coast of the UK from South Ayrshire in Scotland down to Cornwall, and the whole of Northern Ireland.
Storm Darragh will bring the risk of power cuts, damage to buildings, travel disruption and a danger of injury from large waves.
Flooding risk returns on Thursday
There are also multiple yellow weather warnings in place between Thursday and Sunday covering large parts of the UK at different times.
Forecasters are predicting heavy rain during Thursday afternoon – between 2pm and 6pm – where 20 to 30mm (0.78-1.18in) is “likely to fall in just a few hours”.
The area of the yellow warning begins in mid-Wales and covers northwest England, including Liverpool and Manchester – and parts of Yorkshire.
There is the risk of surface water – and potentially some flooding and travel disruption – along with gusty winds.
Rain and wind warnings begin on Thursday afternoon. Pic: Met Office
Another yellow warning has been issued, from 3pm on Thursday until 3am on Friday, for strong and gusty winds, perhaps as much as 60 to 70mph along exposed coasts, especially through the North Channel and Irish Sea.
It covers a large area of the UK, including Northern Ireland, Wales, and western Scotland, as well as parts of England from the South West to the North West, also encompassing an area north of London.
Winds could hit 80mph
Storm Darragh, named by the UK Met Office, will bring heavy rain and strong winds – beginning late on Friday into Saturday morning.
“The winds will be strongest in the West at first, transferring eastwards later, with 80mph gusts likely on the coasts, with 70mph gusts possible inland,” said Sky News weather producer Chris England.
An amber warning – the second highest alert level – is issued when disruption is “more likely and more widespread”, with the Met Office urging people to “take action to protect yourself and your property”.
The Irish weather service has issued similar amber warnings for all western counties along with Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow in the southeast of Ireland.
Those warnings apply from 10pm on Friday evening and continue until 9am on Saturday.
Yellow and amber warnings will cover almost all of the UK on Saturday. Pic: Met Office
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Storm Darragh is also connected to a series of yellow warnings for rain and wind starting on Friday afternoon.
The warnings for rain apply from 3pm on Friday until midday on Saturday covering all of Northern Ireland, a large part of Wales and an area of Scotland as far north as Aberdeen.
Rainfall of 20 to 30mm (0.78-1.18in) is widely expected and as much as 60mm (2.36in) over the higher ground, which carries the risk of local flooding and transport disruption.
Another yellow warning for wind also applies across the UK – apart from an area of Scotland north of Glasgow – from 3pm on Friday until 6am on Sunday. Gusts could vary from 40mph inland to 80mph around coasts.
Drivers should be prepared
Dale Hipkiss, duty manager at National Highways, said: “If weather conditions become challenging, adjust your driving behaviour to manage the conditions as safely as possible.
“It’s also a good idea for drivers to check their vehicles, such as tyres, coolant and oil levels, before heading out to reduce the risk of breakdowns.”
A workman saved a seven-year-old boy from a burning car in the aftermath of a deadly crash caused by a suicidal ex-pilot, an inquest has heard.
The schoolboy’s rescue came following the collision on the M6, which killed former RAF man Richard Woods and four others, in October last year.
Last week a coroner ruled that Woods, 40, took his own life by deliberately driving his Skoda the wrong way down the motorway while drunk and hitting a Toyota Yaris head-on.
The driver of the Toyota, Jaroslaw Rossa, 42, was also killed, along with his two sons, Filip, 15, and Dominic, seven, and his partner Jade McEnroe, 33.
Cockermouth Coroner’s Court heard on Thursday that Ms McEnroe’s son was also in the car but survived after workman Gavin Walsh came to his rescue at the scene, which was near Tebay services in Cumbria.
In a statement to the inquest, Mr Walsh said he was a passenger in a transit van travelling to Scotland when he witnessed the crash.
He jumped out of the vehicle and used a jack to smash the rear windscreen of the Toyota and pulled the boy out of the burning vehicle.
Mr Walsh said: “We really did try, I can assure everyone we did our best. We only had minimal time.
“I saved a life that day and I hope never to witness anything like that again.”
He added that he has never stopped thinking about the boy, and said: “I hope we will meet again one day and I will give you a massive hug.”
At the time, the family were returning to Glasgow from a trip to Legoland in Windsor, Berkshire.
The inquest heard that Wood, who was travelling at a speed of at least 65mph, would have been charged with manslaughter had he survived.
Recording conclusions of unlawful killing, Cumbria assistant coroner Margaret Taylor said: “I found that Jaroslaw, Jade, Filip and Dominic died as a consequence of the unlawful acts of another driver.”
The inquest heard how Mr Woods, from Cambridgeshire, had served a distinguished 14-year career in the RAF and was a flight instructor for BAE Systems at the time of his death.
Jade McEnroe. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Dominic and Filip. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
In Ms Taylor’s record of inquest, Mr Woods was said to have been experiencing “a number of stressors in his life” and had a “history of harmful use of alcohol”.
Following the crash, he was found to be nearly four times over the legal drink-drive limit and a two-thirds empty bottle of gin was found in his car.
On the day of his death, concerns had been raised over his behaviour at a work conference near Preston in Lancashire.
Mr Woods failed to return to his seat after lunch and was later spotted driving erratically and swerving across three northbound carriageway lanes on the M6.
After pulling onto the hard shoulder, he then proceeded to U-turn and drove southward on lane three.
Filip, Dominic and Jaroslaw Rossa. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Detective Sergeant Deborah Story, from Cumbria Police, told the inquest that Mr Woods would have been prosecuted on four counts of manslaughter had he lived.
She said hypothetical charges of murder were considered by detectives but not thought appropriate because of a lack of information that Mr Woods knew the family or anything that provided a link between them.
Ms McEnroe’s parents, Marie McEnroe and George McNellis, told the coroner they thought it was “murder”.
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A statement from the mother of Filip and Dominic, and the ex-wife of Mr Rossa, Kamila, was read out at the inquest.
She said Mr Rossa, known as Jarek, was born in Poland where they became a couple and went on to have three boys.
He loved playing computer games and had “lots of friends”, she said, and worked at the Wagamama restaurant in Silverburn, Glasgow.
She said she was “devastated” over the deaths, adding: “Our lives will never be the same.
“I am heartbroken at the passing of my beloved angels Filip and Dominic.”
Marie McEnroe said her daughter, a spa therapist, had been in a relationship with Mr Rossa for about two-and-a-half years.
She said Jade had been a “brilliant mother” to her only child, was “really happy” with Mr Rossa and it was “lovely chaos” when all the boys were playing together.
Ms McEnroe added: “Life changed forever that day”.
Ms Taylor praised the “selfless acts of bravery” from those in the aftermath of the collision, including Mr Walsh, who she said went towards the burning car “without hesitation for his own safety”.
The coroner added: “Without his swift response, Jade’s child would also have perished.”
Addressing the bereaved family members, she said: “Your loss is unimaginable but you have conducted yourself with dignity and I thank you for that. I wish you strength for the future.”
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
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