London on Red Alert as Storm Eunice Brings Dangerous Winds

(Bloomberg) -- The U.K.’s national weather service issued a second red warning for storm Eunice as high winds threaten to damage homes and bring down power lines across London and other parts of southeast England.

The Met Office’s red warning is in place from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m., with winds as high as 80 miles (129 kilometers) per hour potentially causing transport delays and power outages. An earlier red warning for parts of south west England and south Wales will remain in place until noon on Friday, while the storm is also impacting parts of mainland Europe, including the Netherlands.

So far, network operators are reporting that over 24,000 British households are without power. The storm is also disrupting flights and trains into the capital. Severe wind storms are likely to become more common in Northern Europe as global temperatures rise, according to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

“Climate change on a global level is associated with more freak weather events,” Security Minister Damian Hinds told Sky News.

The U.K. government’s emergency committee, known as Cobra, will hold a meeting this afternoon to discuss the response to the storm.

Flight cancellations were quickly stacking up. London City Airport, a favorite for business travelers because of its proximity to central districts, reported 64 canceled flights. Heathrow, London’s biggest airport, was showing 66 cancellations as of 9:33 a.m., according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.com. 

Storm Eunice was making its impact felt across Europe, with Amsterdam Schiphol showing 276 cancellations, more than any other airport and representing 19% of incoming and outgoing flights.

Train journeys are also likely to be affected, with National Rail warning that the storm would severely disrupt travel. Services between London’s St. Pancras and Bedford are currently disrupted because of damage to overhead electric wires north of the capital, according to National Rail.

The storm is bringing some relief to the electricity market, as Eunice spins the nation’s fleet of wind turbines. After the storm passes, the U.K. could post record wind power output on Sunday.

However, the powerful gusts mean that some wind farms may not be operating today as many turbines turn off when wind speeds go above about 56 miles per hour to protect the machinery. 

There is a less severe amber warning for all of southern England and parts of the midlands until 9 p.m. Friday. Further north, in Scotland, heavy snow is forecast may cause disruptions.

(Updates with Cobra meeting in fifth paragraph, flight cancellations in sixth)

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