General Chat

An hour ago here in my part of Kent it was strong winds and rain, fairly quiet here now, no wind, no rain, and sun is starting to shine through the broken clouds.

well all seems fairly quiet here - raining and a bit windy, nothing in the garden seems to have moved

Edit - according to the BBC website, the old Severn Bridge on the A48 is still closed

I was woken up about 5am this morning by strong winds and rain, hopefully the winds will start to ease in the next hour or so.

There are reports of fallen trees causing disruption on roads and rail lines into London, plus many lines on the underground have delays.

There are also flight cancellations and delays at Heathrow, Gatwick, London City, and Stanstead airports - so check with your airline before you head off to catch your flight.

There are reports of about 140,000 homes in Southern & Eastern parts of England who have been left without power, so far no power cuts here in my part of Kent, my lights have flickered a few times this morning, so fingers crossed they won't go out.

Latest from The BBC:-

The storm is forecast to be the worst of the year so far, with wind gusting over 80mph. A gust of 99mph (159km/h) was recorded at Needles Old Battery, Isle of Wight, at 06:00 GMT

Many rail services are cancelled or delayed, with train companies reporting fallen trees on tracks and around 130 flights are cancelled at Heathrow.

UK Power Networks says about 40,000 homes across its patch are without power. The firm covers south-east England, the East of England and London.

Hundreds of trees have been blown down in London, the South and South-East.

Damaging gusts struck overnight and early on Monday along the south coast of England but the strongest winds are now said to be blowing in east London, Kent and Essex.

London Mayor Boris Johnson is to chair an emergency meeting later on Monday morning to discuss how to deal with the damage and disruption caused by the storm.

North Kent - still windy but it's supposed to die down in the next hour. No apparent damage seen from the windows although my (empty) plastic greenhouse has shifted. Luckily I'd tied it to a fence which stopped it taking off.
The Dartford Bridge is closed with all M25 traffic using the twin tunnels, but that's not unusual when it's windy. Dover harbour has also closed with the possibility that 'Operation Stack' will be put in place for freight traffic - they use the M20 as a lorry park!

Hardly a breath of wind here near coast N Wales....at the mo.....hope we've missed it??
May have rained a bit in night,but still patches of blue sky this morning.

In South Wales, we have been downgraded from amber to yellow alert.

Kept checking the trees last night and it was never as windy as it was on, I think, Friday morning - when there were some pretty fierce gusts for a few minutes.

Both Severn Bridges opened again this morning. Couple of flood warnings, but nothing that unusual. Everbody in my road who normally go early have gone.

However, BBC report that a lot of damage in the south west of England, and south coast. 99mph off Needles!!! Someone lost at sea near Newhaven, large tree caught on video landing across a road. So it will be interesting to get eye witness reports from other members.

And Carol on BBC Breakfast weather very dramatic this morning about what could happen this morning in south east England and East Anglia.

I did notice on 10 day forecast for London on WeatherNet this morning that we should have seen the worst of this one by now (or in next hour or so) across Britain and it is headed for Holland and Denmark. But another quite serious storm risk on Saturday 2nd (many Bonfire Night celebrations) and also Wednesday 6th Nov. So worth keeping thread going for another 10 days perhaps. Many helpful tips. :-)

Flooding in Southampton, and, apparently, there's snow on the Isle of Wight!!! :-S

I got the impression that the forecasters were back tracking a bit for this area so maybe we are going to escape the worst.

A wind turbine has blown down in Luton near Teignmouth. Nobody injured.

Still fairly quiet in South Wales, but we have been on amber alert all day and I think we will catch it in a couple of hours time. :-(

Didn't put out the clinical waste bag for collection tonight.

There are things you don't want flying around your house in the night!

Oh - and digital isn't as sturdy in a wind as analogue was :-| :-| :-P :-P

Well, after the strong winds earlier, we have had absolutely no wind for the past few hours...............................................
The lull before the storm?.........

oh dear, fourteen year old boy swept off the beach in Newhaven :-(

very quiet here still, no wind at all - due to hit about 1:00 am

Several train companies have cancelled the morning trains. A lot of people won't be able to commute tomorrow.

I lived in Cornwall and winds of that strength on that unusual for this time of year - so perhaps we are going to get off lightly

According to Weathernet, highest winds today are in Cornwall (34mph). 20mph in S Wales, which seems about right - though occasional gusts to well above that.

Tomorrow, highest winds are forecast to be in Cornwall again (29mph) and the South of Scotland (20mph). Forecast for all other areas of UK is for winds of less that 20mph (and that forecast was made lunchtime today).

Rambling Rose - roast chicken comes to mind :-D

Having personally witnessed the damage caused by several storms since the storm in 1968, and had to shore up buildings after some storms, I would rather be prepared than not be prepared.

Managed a medium sized scaffolding company for several years, when warnings of storms were issued everyone including management got out on sites to make sure all the scaffolding we had erected was securely tied to the building and all scaffolding boards were securely tied down. I have watched the devastation that 30 corrugated iron sheet can do when they break loose from a temporary roof structure. I don't believe in leaving anything to chance - prefer to be in the position of saying, what was all the hullabaloo about,

By the way before anyone asks, my company did not erect that temporary roof.

Before we all board up the windows or arm ourselves with battery operated radios bottled water and torches ... in today's Daily Mail:

''Last night a spokesman (from the met office) insisted it was satisfied its forecast was correct - then admitting the storm could veer north or south by hundreds of miles''

Still just bright and breezy in Norfolk, but we are on amber alert for between 6am and 10 pm tomorrow. We have moved all bins and garden things into the garage and shed. I don't want anybody to suffer any damage, though I 'll feel a bit disappointed if it just fizzles out to nothing!

Coastal authorities have issued a warning that waves, possibly as high as 25ft to 30 ft, could occur along the exposed coasts of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, West Sussex, East Sussex and Kent, and people are being warned that due to the strength of the winds being predicted, to stay away from exposed coastal areas and cliff tops as due to the adverse weather, rescue teams may not be able to assist should anyone gets into difficulties.

No doubt some will ignore the warnings, there are always some who, for a better phrase, like to play Russian Roulette - don't be one of them, leave any sightseeing for another day, stay in doors and keep yourself & yours, safe and warm.