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Heavy rain and winds hit Britain Thursdayafter a storm in the region could cause flooding and put lives at risk in eastern Scotland, Britain’s national weather service warned.
The worst rainfall is expected to hit Scotland on Thursday, where autumn is typically wet and windy and this month’s flooding has submerged roads, damaged railways and destroyed unharvested crops. but a Red alert As of Thursday night, the highest rainfall warning issued by the Met Office flagged the potential severity of incoming Storm Babet, with officials urging residents to prepare for dangerous conditions.
The storm caused a deluge in some parts of Ireland on Wednesday, causing river waters overflow banks and flood businesses and main streets. In the Irish town of Midleton, County Cork, more than 100 properties were flooded. local authorities he said, and the Irish army sent help to evacuate the residents.
Forecasters said the storm would move further north toward Scotland, where they predicted more than a month’s worth of rain would fall between Thursday and Friday, with some areas expecting 250 millimeters, or 9.8 inches, of rain. This is more than what fell in Scotland in the the entire month of October in 2022, about 196 millimeters or 7.7 inches. With previous rains already filling rivers and saturated watersheds, the weather service has urged residents to prepare for torrential rains that could flood homes, knock out electricity and other essential services and leave communities isolated for several days, the agency said. . The rapidly rising floodwaters, he added, could pose a “danger to life.”
Winds of more than 70 miles per hour are also likely on Thursday, the weather agency said, especially near the Scottish coast, which is vulnerable to landslides.
As weather warnings in Scotland and other parts of Britain came into force on Thursday, local authorities and residents in several areas braced for potential havoc. Police in Scotland warned that the weather would likely cause widespread disruption to roads in several areas and advised people to avoid travel. The Scottish Government said it was coordinating with emergency services to try to mitigate disruption.
The worst of the storm is expected to hit the Angus and Aberdeenshire regions of northeastern Scotland, and local officials have cleared gullies and He offered sandbags to residents. trying to protect your property from flooding.
Network Rail, which oversees Britain’s rail infrastructure, It closed several train routes. and advised people living near railway tracks in Scotland to secure tents, trampolines and garden furniture to prevent the wind from falling on the tracks. Wind gusts had already exceeded 100 kilometers per hour in one city, according to the group’s meteorologists, and the heaviest rain had begun to fall on Thursday morning.
The weather agency last issued the highest extreme rainfall warning in 2020 during Storm Dennis, which left at least three people dead and streets submerged in parts of England, Wales and Scotland. The storm was one of the most intense to hit the North Atlantic and raised questions about the country’s preparedness for intense flooding.
While it is difficult to attribute individual weather events directly to climate change, scientists say the warming planet is leading to worsening extreme precipitation in many storms.