Janice R. Andrews
*On Friday, Storm Lilian, the 12th named storm of the season, will cause a lot of trouble in some parts of the UK. The Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings for wind and rain. The storm is expected to make it hard to move, damage buildings, and possibly cause trees to fall.
Weather Warnings in Yellow
As Storm Lilian gets closer, the Met Office has sent out yellow alerts for wind and rain. The storm is most likely to hit northern England, where gusts will reach 50 to 60 mph. But there is a chance of stronger winds, with gusts of up to 80 mph. The warning is in effect from 5:00 BST to 11:00 BST on Friday. It specifically points out problems that could happen on major roads like the M6, A66, and A1(M).
Strong winds will come with heavy rain, and as the storm moves eastward, there is a chance that some areas will flood. South-west and eastern Scotland are both under different yellow rain alerts. Some places could get up to 30 mm of rain, and by Friday morning, the beaches of Aberdeenshire and Angus should have had enough rain for six months.
Storms in the summer don’t happen very often.
In the UK, summer storms this big don’t happen very often. Even though storms have been named since 2015, August has only had a few named storms in that time. Storms Antoni and Betty caused major problems last year, and storms Ellen and Francis will do the same in 2020. Even so, it’s not unusual for the weather to be windier and wetter in late August in the UK as the season changes from summer to fall, which officially starts on September 1.
The increased activity is due to the jet stream, which is a thin band of fast-moving air high in the sky that can direct storms in the Atlantic toward the UK. During this time, the remains of former storms can also change the weather. For example, on Wednesday night, the remains of former hurricane Ernesto brought strong winds and heavy rain to parts of the UK.
This is what you can expect after Storm Lilian.
Things should get better for the bank holiday weekend once Storm Lilian moves on. Although it will still rain and sprinkle from time to time, there will be a lot of dry weather with sunny breaks. In late August, temperatures are likely to stay a little below average. It will still be windy at times, but the weather is expected to be calmer overall.
The UK has now hit the letter “L” in the storm-naming sequence for the first time since the system was put in place. This shows how busy the weather has been this season. Residents are being told to stay up to date on the latest weather warnings and take the necessary safety measures to stay safe as Storm Lilian moves through.
