France, England and countries across western Europe are bracing for what meteorologists warn could be some of the highest wind speeds the region has witnessed in decades as Storm Ciarán hurtles toward coastlines and is set to make landfall on Wednesday evening.
A car drives through flood water on Canal Quay in Newry Town, Co Down, which has been swamped by floodwater as the city’s canal burst its banks amid heavy rainfall, Wednesday Nov. 1, 2023. Dozens of businesses were engulfed in the floods, with widespread damage caused to buildings, furnishings and stock. People canoe down a flooded Bank Parade in Newry Town, Co Down, Northern Ireland, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023.
“It’s during the calmest moments that we must prepare,” Eric Brocardi, spokesman for the National Federation of Firefighters said on BFM-TV. He advised residents to stay home, tightly close shutters and equip themselves with emergency kits packed with necessary medication and flashlights in case of electricity failures.
Channel Islands residents have been asked not to stockpile goods after supermarket shelves were emptied there ahead of the storm. Sandbags are being handed out in several areas of England and Northern Ireland. The blusterous weather is the result of a branch of the jet stream — a consistent band of strong wind high above the Earth’s surface heading west to east —heading towards northern Europe, he explained. The band is arcing southward from its origin point high above eastern Canada, intensifying a low pressure area and causing the storm, he said.
It was also possible that the storm might see a “sting jet,” he said, when part of the jet stream descends to the Earth’s surface very quickly, gaining momentum as it goes. This “punches” a small area of the surface with very high winds, he said, causing serious damage.
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