Storm Darragh named
Storm Darragh is going to hit the UK later Friday and through Saturday. It’s the fourth named storm of the 2024-25 season, which began in September.
The storm follows what has been a turbulent few days for the UK, with numerous spells of wet and windy weather sweeping through.
In advance of the storm’s arrival, the Met Office has already issued several yellow and amber weather warnings, which stretch from late Friday until early on Sunday.
Strong winds
The most hazardous and potentially disruptive element of Storm Darragh will be very strong winds, with gales or severe gales expected widely.
The focus of the strongest winds will be in the amber warning area, which covers Northern Ireland, a large swathe of Wales, the tip of southwest Scotland, and some western coastal counties of England. Here, gusts of wind are likely to reach up to 70mph inland, and 80mph for coasts and hills.
Winds this strong could blow down trees, cause power cuts and create dangerously large waves around the coasts. The risk of impacts is slightly enhanced in this storm because the very windy weather will be long-lived for some.
Heavy rain & some hill snow
As Storm Darragh arrives, it’ll come with spells of heavy rain wrapped around it – especially across northern and western areas, where yellow warnings have been issued.
With the ground still fairly saturated from recent wet weather, there is a risk of some localised flooding and travel disruption.
There’ll also be snow falling over the hills and mountains of Scotland – particularly north of the central belt.
What’s causing the storm?
Storm Darragh is being caused by a powerful jet stream high above the Atlantic Ocean, which is not only developing the storm, but catapulting it towards us.
The same jet stream is responsible for developing the numerous areas of low pressure that have swept across the UK in recent days.
However, Darragh is going to be stronger than the spells of wind and rain that have preceded it.
Settled weather will return
The winds from Storm Darragh will gradually ease through the day on Sunday, leaving a mix of sunshine and showers across many areas.
We have to wait until early next week for the weather to settle down properly, courtesy of an area of high pressure that builds across the UK during Monday and Tuesday.
Once this happens, most places will be dry, bright and chilly by day, with some frost and fog at night – lingering into the mornings for some.
In the meantime, it’s worth keeping a close eye on the weather warnings, as they will be updated on Friday morning.
