On the 24th of January 2025, Storm Éowyn hit the UK, marking the fifth storm in the 2024/25 European storm season. With recorded wind speeds of up to 100mph in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, and 114mph in County Galway, Ireland, Storm Éowyn was the most intense storm in the UK in the past ten years in Ireland since 1961.
The Met Office officially declared Storm Éowyn on the 21st of January after deciding the potential damage by winds could be classed as an amber or red waring. Having named the storm, the Met Office was able to issue weather warnings in order to minimise risk to life. Northern Ireland and the Central Belt of Scotland were the most heavily impacted areas in the UK. Both areas were issued a red weather warning, and 4.5 million people were advised to stay at home through government-issued emergency phone alerts. Sadly, the 19-year-old Calum Carmicheal died in East Ayrshire after an uprooted tree fell on his car. He was driving home before the red alert was issued. 20-year-old Kacper Dudek died in a similar manner in County Donegal, Ireland—the only other casualty of the storm. In compliance with the red weather warning, all schools in Northern Ireland were closed on the 24th, as well as 90% of all schools in Scotland and all Scottish universities and colleges. High winds caused damage to over-head power lines leading to power cuts in 285,000 Northern Irish properties and 290,000 Scottish properties. This also took its toll on broadband and mobile connectivity. Damages to water assets as well as reports of stolen equipment left up to 3,000 properties without water in Northern Ireland. Bottled water was distributed as a temporary solution while engineers worked to restore damages.
Transportation was also affected by these high winds. Belfast and Edinburgh airports suspended their activities, leading to over 1,000 flights being cancelled. In addition to this, the teams at Network Rail Scotland had to clear over 120 trees from the tracks, which delayed efforts to re-open train lines. Transportation in Northern Ireland was also badly affected, with 1,800 incidents of fallen trees and other debris blocking roads, making response efforts more difficult. Although Éowyn was not predicted to hit England and Wales as badly as Scotland and Northern Ireland, it still caused major disruptions in some areas. The Met Office issued an amber wind warning for North Wales and England with a yellow wind warning covering the rest of the UK. Across Wales, fifty schools were closed, including thirty-three in Anglesey, to encourage people inside. Aside from this, the biggest impact of the storm across England and Wales was disruptions to the electricity network. The wind gusts, which were reported to be as high as 93mph, disrupted up to 40,000 supplies across North and Mid Wales as well as Cheshire and Merseyside.
By the next evening at least five-hundred properties were still without power. While electricians addressed these issues, Electricity North West set up “warm hubs”—community spaces which offered free hot food and warm spaces for those badly affected. In the aftermath of Éowyn, the Met Office has issued further yellow weather alerts for wind and rain in parts of Wales and England with exposed hilly areas particularly vulnerable to high winds. This warning predicts high rainfall, which could lead to flooding in Wales and South East England, as the countries’ recovery from Storm Eowyn unfortunately collides with the remnants of the Spanish storm Herminia.