Storm Jocelyn: Travel hell as 97mph winds hit UK and urgent search launched at sea

As Britain wakes up to yet another day of stormy weather, the Met Office’s outlook looks slightly more positive as the day goes on.

Here’s the forecaster’s latest forecast for today:

A day of sunny spells and blustery showers, though the south will be mainly dry. Winds gradually easing from the south as Storm Jocelyn moves away from the UK. Turning cloudy from the southwest later with patchy light rain.

Light winds and clear skies with a frost likely in the north and east. Cloud and outbreaks of mostly light rain moving northeast from southwest England.

The coastguard launched a search on Tuesday evening following reports of a person in the sea in Porthcawl, south Wales.

The alarm was raised just before 6pm but after several hours of searching in the treacherous conditions, the search was suspended in the early hours of Wednesday.

Rescue services said a decision on further action would be made at first light.

HM Coastguard said rescue teams from Porthcawl, Port Talbot, Llantwit Major and Llansteffan. They were joined by an HM Coastguard helicopter from St Athan and the RNLI’s all-weather lifeboats from Mumbles and Barry Dock.

Kate’s sister Rachel penned an emotional tribute on Facebook, writing: “How am I going to do life without my beautiful little sister?

“You were the strong one – not me. I never wanted you to leave me.”

Read the full story by Barney Davies here…

Storm Jocelyn has brought fresh travel disruption to much of the UK as wind gusts reach 97mph.

Rail services to and from Scotland have been suspended until at least noon today, with Network Rail Scotland saying it had dealt with incidents of flooding, fallen trees and a shed roof blowing onto a high wall above a track on Tuesday evening.

Avanti West Coast also told passengers not to travel north of Preston until at least noon on Wednesday.

Martin Thomson, national operations manager for resilience at Transport Scotland, said: “Across the wider network, we can expect to see more delays and cancellations with ferries, flights and rail into Wednesday morning.”

On the roads, drivers have also been facing severe disruption. The Queen Elizabeth II bridge at the Dartford Crossing, M48 Severn Bridge and A66 in County Durham and Cumbria were closed due to high winds.

The M1 was also closed in both directions to high-sided vehicles at Junction 34 for Sheffield, according to Traffic England.

Air travel has not escaped the wrath of the stormy weather either, with eight flights cancelled at Dublin Airport and four at Glasgow Airport on Tuesday evening.

The UK has recorded winds gusting to 97mph this morning during Storm Jocelyn, significantly higher speeds than what the Met Office had forecast.

The highest wind speed recorded in the UK was in Capel Curig in Wales, at 97mph, while other regions experienced wind gusts of around 70mph, the Met Office said.

Earlier, the forecaster predicted maximum 80mph wind gusts for Storm Jocelyn.

Apart from train and flight delays, commuters are also being asked to avoid road travel this morning as several routes were closed due to Storm Jocelyn.

The M48 Severn Bridge and A66 in County Durham and Cumbria were closed due to high winds, with the Humber Bridge, A19 Tees Flyover and the Woodhead Pass in Derbyshire and South Yorkshire closed to high-sided vehicles.

In Scotland, the A76 was closed in both directions between Skelmorlie and Largs due to water breaking over the sea wall.

RAC spokesperson Alice Simpson said: “With so much heavy rainfall and debris on the roads, driving conditions will be very challenging, especially across northern parts of the country where the weather is at its worst.

“Visibility will be severely reduced due to the spray from lorries and other large vehicles, and the amount of water on the roads will increase stopping distances.

“We urge drivers to consider postponing their journeys in these areas if at all possible.

“We also suggest drivers avoid parking underneath or near to trees.”

More travel chaos is expected as passengers try to reach work this morning after the arrival of Storm Jocelyn, which is bringing brought disruptive winds gusting at around 80mph just days after Storm Isha.

Roads as well as train and flight services are already impacted and commuters were warned to check for cancellations and delays before beginning their journey.

Eight flights were cancelled at Dublin Airport and four at Glasgow Airport yesterday evening, while train services in Scotland were suspended from 7pm on Tuesday until midday today.

Martin Thomson, national operations manager for resilience at Transport Scotland, said: “Across the wider network, we can expect to see more delays and cancellations with ferries, flights and rail from Tuesday into Wednesday morning.”

Liam Sumpter, route director for Network Rail Scotland, said Storm Isha caused “a huge amount of damage” and teams have been working “around the clock” to remove fallen tress and debris, and repair damaged infrastructure.

He went on: “While we are continuing to reopen routes when it is safe to do so, we unfortunately expect even more disruption in the coming days as Storm Jocelyn arrives in Scotland.

Met Office chief meteorologist Steve Willington said Storm Jocelyn, named by Met Eireann, could cause more disruption than Storm Isha.

He said: “Although this system will be a step down relative to Storm Isha, with the damage and clean-up still under way, we could potentially see more impacts from Storm Jocelyn.

“Outbreaks of heavy rain on Tuesday could bring rainfall accumulations of 15 to 20mm quite widely with 40 to 50mm over higher ground in south-west Scotland, the Scottish Highlands and parts of north-west England.

“Wind gusts are expected to reach 55 to 65mph across northwestern Scotland while there is potential for winds to reach 75 to 80mph in a few places, in particular exposed parts of the Western Isles and coastal north-west Scotland early on Wednesday morning.”

Tens of thousands of homes and businesses remain without power in the UK as Britons say winds from Storm Jocelyn are shaking windows and sending bins flying.

Many users on X, formerly known as Twitter, are complaining that heavy gusts from Storm Jocelyn have kept them up tonight.

“This #StormJocelyn definitely sounds and feels worse than #StormIsha,” wrote Francesca Renèe Reid, a resident of London.

“The latch on my windows broken and it actually feels like it’s gonna fly off it’s hinges,” wrote another user, Elle.

“Getting enough sound sleep in UK now is a miracle,” wrote Abigail Mungai.