UK weather: Country facing ‘timeline of hazards’ this week as Storm Christoph takes hold
Written by News on 19/01/2021
The UK faces a “timeline of different hazards” this week as Storm Christoph moves across the country, the Met Office has warned.
Weather warnings are in place for heavy rain across the UK, but there are also risks of snowfall and wind, threatening widespread disruption.
Rain is “initially” the main concern with Storm Christoph, according to Met Office spokesman Oli Claydon, adding there will be changes as the week moves on as low pressure brings in cold air.
He said it would be “a timeline of different hazards as we go through the week but the first hazard is certainly of rain and that’s reflected in the warnings at the moment”.
An amber weather warning has been put in place by the Met Office until Thursday for parts of the Midlands and northern England, with Bolton in Greater Manchester seeing the brunt of the rainfall so far, with 24.4mm falling from midnight to 8am on Tuesday.
Around 35mm fell in Aberllefenni in west Wales over the same period – the highest amount of rainfall overnight in the UK.
Floodwaters have already begun to rise in Leicester with motorists becoming stranded, while flood defences are being erected on the banks of the River Ouse in York.
A Ferrari overturned after smashing through a motorway barrier near Leeds – with the crash being blamed on the storm.
Highways England shared the picture of the smashed-up supercar, with the caption: “Storm Christoph 1 – Ferrari 0”.
It is not known if any one was injured.
Storm Christoph has also forced the cancellation of Football League matches on Tuesday night in Blackburn and Lincoln, after the weather left the grounds with waterlogged pitches.
Overnight on Tuesday, heavy rain is expected to pound parts of England, with the Met Office warning some buildings could be flooded, leading to damage.
A “danger to life” warning has been issued as a result of fast-flowing or deep floodwaters, while there is a “good chance” some areas may be cut off.
In places such as the northern Peak District, around 70mm of rain is expected to fall, with 200mm possible in parts of the southern Pennines.
Most of Wales and England has a yellow rain alert in place into Wednesday, while a yellow weather warning for snow and ice is in force in Scotland between Elgin and Dundee and along the east coast from Wednesday afternoon until midday on Thursday.
As of Tuesday lunchtime, 16 flood warnings had been issued by the Environment Agency, with another 119 flood alerts across England.
On the roads, Highways England has advised drivers to take care, while the RAC said motorists should only drive if they absolutely need to.
Amid the flood warnings, there are no plans to hold a Cobra meeting, Downing Street has said, saying the response to the storm is being managed by the National Flood Response Centre.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman told reporters: “The important message whilst the alerts are in place is that we urge everybody to follow the Environment Agency’s advice and check their flood risk and sign up to alerts.”
The Sky News weather team said Storm Christoph would bring “non-stop rain” for some parts of the UK over the next couple of days, with Northern Ireland, northern England and Wales most at risk.
“There is a higher amber warning in force for parts of northwest England, the East Midlands and parts of eastern England where over 100mm of rain is expected across the higher ground and up to 200mm of rain in exposed areas. So, over a months’ worth of rainfall is possible for these areas in just a couple of days.
“Conditions will become drier on Thursday as Storm Christoph moves away, but flooding impacts are still to be expected for northern, central and eastern England as it takes a day or so for the rains to travel down to the rivers from the high ground.
“As the storm clears there may be some significant snowfall across inland areas of eastern Scotland too. The rest of the week will become cold again but with wintry spells at times, especially in the north.”
(c) Sky News 2021: UK weather: Country facing ‘timeline of hazards’ this week as Storm Christoph takes hold
