3 dead as Storm Babet blasts the UK and Ireland with flooding rain, fierce wind
Three people are confirmed dead, and another is missing, amid a powerful storm named Babet, which will continue to bring significant wind and rain to Ireland and portions of the United Kingdom into the weekend, AccuWeather meteorologists warn.
The storm, which was spinning over the southern U.K. as of Friday afternoon, local time, has already brought pounding waves and flooding rainfall to parts of the region. Similar conditions and at least gale-force winds will continue for portions of northeastern England and Scotland through Saturday.
As Babet, the second named storm of the season in the U.K., was continuing to bear down on the region, the country's Met Service issued a rare 'red warning' for heavy rainfall and severe wind.
The storm has already brought flash flooding and disrupted daily life in Ireland and southern England.
According to local police, a 56-year-old man was killed on Thursday when a tree hit his van in Angus, Scotland. A second fatality occurred on Thursday in nearby Glen Esk, when a woman was swept away by floodwaters while a third fatality was reported on Friday when a man was caught in similar floodwaters in Shropshire, according to The Independent. Another person was missing in Aberdeenshire after reports that a driver was trapped by floodwaters.
The Angus town council responded to more than 100 calls from people who stayed behind, rather than evacuate as ordered, according to BBC News. Rescue teams were also going door-to-door on Thursday night helping people to safety.
In Cork, the Republic's second-largest city, which is located in the southern part of the country, images and videos of significant flash flooding, including damage to roads from rushing water, were posted to social media on Wednesday. According to BBC News, hundreds of properties were damaged by the flooding, and people had to be rescued by boats and canoes.
In response to the heavy rain and reported flooding, Met Éireann, Ireland's official meteorological service, posted an 'orange rain warning' on Wednesday for a few southern counties into the afternoon. Rainfall amounts of over 2 inches (50 mm) occurred across the country in a very short amount of time, leading to the flooding. Over the span of 24 hours, up to 3.70 inches (94 mm) of rain fell.
Rough seas and battering waves were also being reported along the coast of the U.K. from Storm Babet, forcing the closure of some beaches.
According to DevonLive, local officials in Shaldon, England, a village on the southern coast of England, closed the Strand and a nearby road for being "unstable." The nearby seafront in Torquay was also closed as the storm was hammering the region.
In Cornwall, England's southwesternmost county, power outages earlier on Wednesday totaled 1,600 properties, according to Cornwall Live. Along the coast, photos of waves breaking along the shoreline were posted to X.
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AccuWeather's team of international forecasters is warning that severe impacts will continue for the northern part of the U.K. through Saturday, as Storm Babet approaches from the south.
Ahead of that, London, and the rest of the interior central and southern U.K., which will miss the worst impacts from the storm, will experience rainy spells and a gusty breeze at times through early Saturday. Impacts will continue to be severe in the northern U.K., especially across Scotland and northeastern England.
"Rainfall up to 4 inches (100 mm) with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 8 inches (200 mm) is expected," said AccuWeather Lead International Forecaster Jason Nicholls. "This can result in areas of flooding, water-covered roads, travel delays and even structural damage."
Damage can also result from strong, gusty winds as Babet further strengthens and its center of circulation emerges in the North Sea east of the U.K. late in the week.
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This image of the eastern Atlantic and western Europe shows the massive Storm Babet off the coast of Ireland (left of center) on Oct. 19, 2023. (AccuWeather RealVue™ Satellite) |
"Winds can gust as high as 70 mph (110 km/h) with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 80 mph (130 km/h)," said Nicholls. "Winds of this magnitude may result in downed trees, structural damage and power outages."
Ahead of the expected impacts, officials in Scotland have ordered the evacuation of about 350 people in the town of Angus, according to The Telegraph. In addition, hospitals, schools and public transportation have been shuttered in advance of the expected heavy rain and damaging winds.
Ireland and the U.K. are not the only nations expected to experience the wrath of Babet. In combination with other storms spinning in the region, rain and gusty winds can also reach the Low Countries of Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg, as well as parts of Germany and Italy, into Friday.
"Snow is even likely to fall in the mountains of Alps farther south in Europe," added Nicholls.
Conditions across the northwestern part of the continent will begin to improve by late in the weekend, but additional storminess can arrive next week, as several more storms will move in off the Atlantic Ocean.
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