United Kingdom: Storm Kathleen has caused dozens of flight cancellations in the UK due to severe winds and the country’s hottest day of the year so far.
The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for wind, which resulted in the cancellation of almost 140 flights leaving and arriving at airports in the UK. Scotland’s rail and ferry networks have also been affected.
In numerous areas, wind gusts above 70 mph (112 km/h) caused temperatures in eastern England to reach 21.4°C (70.5 F). The highest recorded gusts, reaching 101 mph, occurred atop Cairngorm, a peak located in the Scottish Highlands.
The north-west and south-west of England, as well as some areas of Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, have been most hit by the storm. At airports like Heathrow, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, and Belfast City, flights were cancelled, causing delays for thousands of travelers.
Flights inside the United Kingdom and to and from the island of Ireland accounted for the great bulk of the impacted flights. Additionally, EasyJet ceased operating flights to and from the Isle of Man.
Storm Kathleen was named by Met Éireann, the Irish meteorological office, since it was anticipated that the Republic of Ireland would be most affected, making it the eleventh named storm in eight months.
Due to the severe gusts that caused trees to topple, almost 12,000 customers are without electricity as the storm travels over the island of Ireland.
The yellow wind advisory issued by the Met Office for the counties of Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone, and Londonderry in Northern Ireland is expected to end.