CNN
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The UK and Ireland are bracing for what could be one of the most severe storms seen in years, with authorities closing schools and warning residents to stay away.
Storm Éowyn, an extratropical “bomb” cyclone that formed in the North Atlantic and intensified rapidly, is expected to bring gusty winds, heavy rain and snow to the region.
Met Éireann, Ireland’s Weather Service, issued red warnings, its highest alert level, for wind for much of the country starting early Friday, saying wind gusts could exceed 80 miles per hour.
The United Kingdom’s weather office, or Met Office, has also placed parts of Northern Ireland under red wind warnings for the first time since 2011.
“We reserve issuing red warnings for the most severe weather which poses a likely danger to life and severe disruption, and this is the case with Storm Éowyn,” Met Office chief meteorologist Paul Gundersen said. :
Keith Leonard, chairman of Ireland’s National Emergency Coordination Group, said in a statement that “Storm Éowyn would be a very dangerous and destructive weather event.”
All schools in Ireland and Northern Ireland will be closed on Friday, according to the Irish Department of Education and the Northern Irish Education Authority. Public transport will not come to Ireland, according to authorities.
Nicholas Leach, a postdoctoral and climate researcher at the University of Oxford, told the non-profit Science Media Center that Éowyn was “likely to cause potentially serious damage”, which he said could include flying debris and downed trees “extremely dangerous driving conditions.”
Along with the wind, Éowyn (pronounced ‘ay-oh-win’) is expected to bring rain and snow to parts of the UK. A yellow snowfall warning is in place for parts of northern England and southern Scotland. Across the central belt of Scotland, snowfall could reach between six and ten inches, according to the Met Office.
Ambrogio Volonté, a senior researcher at the University of Reading’s department of meteorology, said Storm Éowyn could “rival the ferocity” of Storm Eunice in 2022 and Storm Ciarán in 2023, “which unfortunately claimed lives and left many serious damage.
Éowyn is expected to move away from the UK on Saturday, although yellow wind warnings are in place in the north of the country for Saturday morning and early afternoon.
Leach said Éowyn is an extratropical “bomb” cyclone that formed in the North Atlantic and “intensified extremely quickly.”
He said bomb cyclones are typically the most impactful winter storms in Northern Europe.
While Leach said the impacts of the climate crisis on extratropical cyclones remain uncertain, some studies suggest that the strongest storms, like Éowyn are expected to be, may become stronger with climate change.