‘Welsh’ storm set to batter the UK over the weekend

A storm which has what the Met Office are calling a ‘Welsh’ name will batter the UK over the weekend, with a yellow weather warning for Wales and an amber one in eastern Scotland and north-east England.

The Met Office unveiled three names “of Welsh origin” for this season’s storms in September – Arwen, Gladys and Olwen, with the first set to hit the UK the west coast of Wales tomorrow.

However, despite sounding similar to the Welsh name Anwen, the name Arwen was in fact invented by JRR Tolkien for inclusion in the Lord of the Rings trilogy as an Elvish princess.

Despite being a made-up name the storm is likely to cause real damage, with the Met Office warning of travel disruption and damage in Wales from 9am tomorrow until 6pm on Saturday.

Injuries and danger to life from flying debris are possible, and some damage to trees, temporary structures and buildings, such as tiles blown from roofs, could happen.

Road, rail, air and ferry services may be affected, with longer journey times and cancellations possible and some roads and bridges may close. Power cuts may also occur, with the potential to affect other services, such as mobile phone coverage.

There is also a danger of injuries from large waves and beach material being thrown onto sea fronts, coastal roads and properties.

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‘Impact’

Stephen Dixon, a Met Office spokesman, said that Storm Arwen had been named on the back of a deep low-pressure system moving to the north-east of the UK.

“The worst affected areas will predominantly be on the coasts, with gusts of over 75mph bringing possible disruption to travel and longer journey times, power cuts, flying debris and large waves with beach material being thrown around,” he said.

“There is also a yellow warning of wind in place along the west coast of the UK from 9am on Friday, stretching from Scotland, through Northern Ireland and Wales and as far as south-west England.

“This reflects the impact Storm Arwen will have, with strong winds likely to occur into Saturday, when the warning is extended to most parts of the UK.

“The south-east and London, though fairly windy, are likely to escape the worst of the gusts and remain relatively calm in comparison to the rest of the country, which will certainly feel the impact of the storm.”