Storm Ciarán: ‘Major incident’ declared in UK and France but Ireland escapes worst of wind and rain

Ireland appears to have escaped the worst of Storm Ciarán although there was some heavy downpours overnight, but no reports of flooding.

Met Éireann said that any lingering rain will clear from the east early this morning and it will be mainly dry for the rest of the day. Sunny spells and scattered showers are anticipated, with temperatures up to 12 degrees. Some of the showers will turn more frequent and occasionally heavy in the west and southwest later, but there are no weather alerts in place.

In contrast, a major incident has been declared in parts of England and significant flood warnings as the storm tracks across the south coast.

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Most of the 54 flood warnings issued by the Environment Agency where flooding is expected are along the south coast and a further 134 alerts are in place for possible flooding. Northern Ireland has already seen flooding, where a yellow rain warning from the Met Office was in place until 9am on Wednesday.

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A red wind warning, the highest level, was issued by Jersey Met into Thursday with people warned to avoid outside activity due to predicted gusts of almost 160km/h. The French coast saw winds of up to 185km/h in western Brittany overnight.

Irish Ferries has advised customers to check for sailing updates on irishferries.com, as there is some impact on services due to Storm Ciarán. The return sailing from Cherbourg to Dublin, due to depart France on Wednesday afternoon was cancelled due to weather conditions and service will resume on Friday. Any customers whose bookings are impacted by sailing delays or disruption will be contacted by Irish Ferries.

Graeme McQueen, Media Relations Manager at DAA, the operator of Dublin airport, said they were not expecting any major impact from the storm. “However, with strong winds forecast for the northwest coast of France and the south of England, some knock-on impact to flight schedules is possible as the day goes on.,” he said. “As always, passengers should contact their airline directly for updates on specific flights.”

In France, the storm left one person dead and 1.2 million households without electricity and winds of up to 207 km/h were recorded. Residents in the area have been urged to stay at home.

Transport minister Clement Beaune told Fanceinfo radio that a truck driver died in the Aisne department, northeast of Paris when a tree fell on his truck.

Ben Lukey, flood duty manager at the Environment Agency in the UK, said: “Large waves and onshore gales brought by Storm Ciaran could see significant flooding along parts of the south coast and along parts of the Yorkshire and Northeast coasts on Thursday.”

The major incident was declared by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Local Resilience Forum, with the local fire service warning there was a “potential risk to life” as well as a risk of damage to buildings, falling trees, and flooding.

Across the south coast, an amber warning runs from 6am to 5pm on Thursday with winds expected to reach up to 150km/h, with the potential for large waves.

All flights from Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney airports on Thursday have been cancelled.

Commuters in southern England were urged to work from home by Southern Rail, with Southeastern “strongly advising” passengers not to travel on routes in and out of London before 9am on Thursday as they assess any fallen trees and debris on the line.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) urged people watching the conditions to stay away from the coast.

RNLI water safety manager Ross Macleod said: ‘This rough weather could make visiting our coasts around southern England and Wales treacherous and bring very dangerous sea conditions.

“While people may want to experience extreme weather around the coast, we would strongly advise against doing so. It is not worth risking your life, so we urge people to respect the water and watch from a safe distance.” - PA