Storm Babet is STUCK over UK: ‘Danger to life’ warning lingers as rain water ‘moves cars’
Anne Diamond discusses Storm Babet with weather journalist Nathan Rao
Weather journalist Nathan Rao has joined Anne Diamond on GB News to discuss Storm Babet, which is currently assaulting Scotland and much of the UK.
A red weather warning has been put in place in parts of England and Scotland by the met office, with some areas expected to experience more than 150mm of rain in just over a day.
Additionally, it’s been confirmed that three people have been killed as a result of the adverse weather, with a 57-year-old woman swept into a river in Angus, 56-year-old driver killed by a falling tree and man in his 60s who was caught in fast-flowing water in Shropshire.
Met Office weather warnings in place for Storm Babet
Met Office
Discussing the red weather warning put in place, Rao said: “Now these things are incredibly rare. The last red weather warning for rain, to put it into context, was in 2020 and they don't issue them lightly.”
“Now, the red weather warning is in place across the eastern side of Scotland until midday today. But there is a whole raft of weather warnings out throughout today and up until 6:00 AM on Saturday.”
“Not only for rain, but for wind, but it is gonna be rain, particularly in Scotland. That is gonna be the issue during this storm.”
Anne chimed in: “I mean, I heard something strange, like it's going to be a month's worth of rain in 24 hours?”
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A number of cars have been submerged from Storm Babet PA“Those predictions are actually going up now,” Said Rao. “Yesterday it was gonna be 10 inches of rain. The Met Office increased that slightly, so I would hazard that you're probably knocking on two months worth of rain in a period of a day!”
“To put it into context, 30 centimetres of rainwater can move a car. So if you go out driving in this sort of red water, you're not in control of the car. Don't walk in the rain, stay away from coastal areas.”
Rao also explained just why this storm has proved so disruptive: “It's a very slow moving storm and this is not what you want to hear.”
“When we talk about storms in autumn, usually they come in quite quickly and it's after 24 hours they're gone. This is moving very, very slowly and that's what causes the problem with the rain because it stalls over the country.”
Storm Babet batters Scottish coastPA“There is a big area of high pressure across the north, across Scandinavia and that's called a blocking high and that is sort of bumping against it and keeping it stuck over the UK is like a washing machine that just won't clear.”
This is the second storm of the season, following Storm Agnes in September, in which winds reached up to 80mph.
A yellow warning for Northern Ireland is also in place until 9am on Saturday.
According to Rao, Babet is expected to last until Saturday morning, though many weather warnings are in place after this, into the rest of the day.
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