Of course, in a year of wild weather, 2023 wasn’t going to go out quietly. In these final days of the year, the entirety of the UK is braced to be hit with Storm Gerrit with no fewer than nine yellow weather warnings being issued across the country by the Met Office.
We’ll all be experiencing the storm differently with more northern parts of the UK including above the central belt in Scotland and the Shetland Islands expecting snow while England and Wales are expected to experience more wind and rain.
Impacts of Storm Gerrit across the UK
In a press release about this storm, Met Office Chief Meteorologist Frank Saunders said that southern coastal areas of England will experience strong winds “possibly peaking around 70 mph on exposed coastlines, but more widely around 50-60 mph within the warning area.”
Saunders added that snow is “likely to cause problems” for northern areas only briefly for a few upland routes across the Pennines and southern Scotland overnight.
The Met Office adds that Met Office warnings highlight the possibility for transport disruption, power cuts and flooding in some areas and urge UK residents to keep up to date with updates.
What do yellow weather warnings mean?
According to the Met Office, yellow weather warnings are issued when it’s likely that the weather will cause some low-level impacts, such as disruption to travel. If a yellow weather warning is in place where you are, your daily routine probably won’t be affected but it’s still important to stay up to date with updates to assess whether you will be affected.
The Met Office adds that yellow weather warnings are issued when it’s likely that the weather could cause more severe impacts but the certainty of such impacts occurring is much lower — which is why it’s important to stay up to date and read the warnings in detail.