Storm Agnes UK: travel chaos on the way as ‘disruptive’ 80mph winds forecast - will flights be affected?

Storm Agnes is set to cause more travel chaos this week as the Met Office forecasts “disruptive” 80mph winds with “power cuts possible”.

A yellow weather warning for wind has been issued for Wednesday (27 September) and Thursday (28 September).

It is in force from 12pm until 7am, but weather maps show the intensity of gusts will start to build tonight (Tuesday 26 September) with intense rainfall expected hours later.

The Met Office warned that the “spell of strong and disruptive winds” is likely to cause some damage to buildings, such as tiles blown from roofs, and road, rail, air and ferry services may be affected, with longer journey times and cancellations possible.

Gusts of 45 to 55 mph are expected widely inland and 50 to 60 mph winds are forecast over hills and around coasts.

The strongest winds are expected to affect Northern Ireland, southwest Scotland, west and northwest Wales, Cumbria and Lancashire where some places inland may see gusts of 60 mph.

Met Office chief meteorologist Steve Ramsdale said: “While the precise track and depth of Storm Agnes is still being determined, there’s a high likelihood of wind gusts around 50mph to 60mph for some inland areas.

“Exposed coastal areas could see gusts of 65mph to 75mph with a small chance of a few places seeing around 80mph.”

Motorists are being warned to stay vigilant for falling trees, tiles blown from roofs and other flying debris.

Birmingham Airport told passengers it is “preparing” for the weather and will be “operating in line with our usual extreme weather procedures.”

Manchester Airport told NationalWorld that it is closely monitoring the weather.

More flights could be potentially delayed and cancelled from Gatwick Airport due to the weather, which will cause more chaos at the airport as flight numbers have been limited this week.

Gatwick Airport announced yesterday (Monday 26 September) that flights will be limited this week due to staff shortages at its air traffic control tower.

Storm Agnes is the result of a tropical storm across the east coast of the US causing a jet stream to rumble across the Atlantic.

The storm could bring a fortnight’s worth of rain in nine hours.

The weather warning on the Met Office’s website reads: "A deep area of low pressure is expected to approach southwest Ireland early on Wednesday, and track across northern parts of the UK before clearing early Thursday.

“There is some uncertainty on the precise track and depth of the low, however the most likely outcome at present is for a wide swathe of 50 to 60 mph gusts to affect inland areas, perhaps locally stronger over and to the lee of hills in the north.”

The Met Office forecasts “showers and longer spells of rain at times” on Tuesday with it becoming “mostly dry during the afternoon in the south, with light winds.”

The forecaster said there could be “some disruption” on Wednesday due to heavy rain and conditions will stay “unsettled” on Thursday, becoming “more settled in the south” on Friday (29 September).