Storm Eunice: DOUBLE weather warning issued for Newcastle this Friday

Just hours after Storm Dudley battered Newcastle, there is another spate of extreme weather coming with Storm Eunice on the horizon.

Today, Thursday, February 17, the Met Office has updated its weather warnings for Storm Eunice with two in place.

Both warnings are classifies as ‘yellow’ rather than the ‘amber’ cautions for Storm Dudley, with winds not expected to reach quite the same speeds.

There is however an added element of difficulty for Storm Eunice, with snow possible across the North East.

Here are the Met Office weather updates that you need to be aware of.

Yellow warning of wind

Storm Eunice comes with a yellow weather warning for wind with gusts of 50 to 60 mph likely and speeds of up to 75 mph possible at exposed sites.

The Met Office expects disruption as a result, warning: “There is a chance of some damage to trees and also perhaps to buildings, such as tiles blown from roofs.

“There is a chance of longer journey times or cancellations as road, rail, air and ferry services are affected.

“There is a chance that some roads and bridges could close.

“There is a small chance that power cuts may occur, with the potential to affect other services, such as mobile phone coverage.

“There is a small chance that injuries could occur from large waves and beach material being thrown onto sea fronts, coastal roads and properties.”

Yellow warning of snow

The Met Office is also warning that Storm Eunice “may cause disruption due to heavy snow”.

A widespread warning across the North East has been put in place, although the Met Office says that not all areas covered will see snow.

Some places may see 5 cm of snow and accumulations of up to 20 cm are possible at areas far above sea level.

The Met Office warned: “There is a chance of travel delays on roads, possibly with stranded vehicles and passengers, along with delayed or cancelled rail and air travel.

“There is a slight chance that some rural communities could be temporarily cut off.

“There is a small chance that power cuts will occur and other services, such as mobile phone coverage, may be affected.”

Impact of Storm Dudley

Storm Dudley whirled around the region overnight on Thursday.

Some areas in the North East were worried about the storm’s potential impact after being badly hit by Storm Arwen last year.

Thousands across the North East were left without power last year.

Northern Powergrid apologised at the time, saying: “As well as creating enormous challenges for us in terms of the engineering work we have to do to respond, the scale of the disruption has made it very challenging for us to communicate effectively with our customers.

“We have heard that loud and clear - and we are sorry that we weren’t able to do better in that respect.”

Storm Dudley again left areas of the region, including Kirkwhelpington and Kielder, without power and Northern Powergrid scrambling to fix that.

Northern Powergrid confirmed they had restored power to some 19,000 homes and business impacted by Storm Dudley.