More strong winds and travel disruption as Storm Jocelyn follows Storm Isha

The UK is set to be battered by more strong winds, rain and travel disruption as Storm Jocelyn follows in the wake of Storm Isha.

Meteorologists said the latest storm will bring heavy rains with flood warnings issued for western Scotland, north-west England, the Yorkshire Dales and north-west Wales.

Gusts are expected to reach 40-50mph across the UK by late afternoon today (January 23rd) into Wednesday. The approaching Jocelyn is the second storm to hit the UK in the space of just 36 hours.

Storm Isha arrived on Sunday afternoon and left thousands across Scotland and the north of England without power with amber weather warnings issued and gusts that reached up to 90mph in some places.

Electricity North West said more than 50,000 homes had suffered a loss of power, with 2,000 still to have it restored.

Naming storms helps communicate to the public when there’s a risk of severe weather and seems to have worked when forecasters want to spread the word.

Jocelyn is the 10th storm named since this storm season began with Storm Agnes, which brought 70mph winds and rain, in September.

Since storm naming began back in 2015, the furthest we have reached during storm season in the alphabet is the letter K, when Storm Kate was named in February 2016 – and we’ve already J this year.

Speaking to The Guardian, Liz Bentley, the chief executive of the Royal Meteorological Society, said: “Jocelyn will be the tenth named storm since the autumn/winter storm season started.

“We’ve not got that far into the alphabet in January [before] so it is unusual to have seen such an active run.”

The unusual occurrence of having so many storms poses the question of why there are so many storms this year, and how much is it to do with climate change.

Ms Bently says that it is all down to the ‘jet stream’ as she continues: “The jet stream is a band of strong wind to the top of our atmosphere, about 30,000ft, and when the jet stream is active it develops these low systems and drives them across the Atlantic towards the UK.

“While the jet stream remains active, we are going to see this unsettled period.”

Climate change is also a contributing factor, but the ‘evidence is not conclusive’ enough so far, adds Ms Bently, while experts agree it is important that we work towards a greater understanding of this.

She adds: “There isn’t a clear signal that climate change is leading to more extreme storms in the UK. There is a little bit of evidence, but it’s not conclusive.

“What is happening though is that because of a warmer climate the atmosphere can hold more moisture, so when we get these storms the rainfall tends to be a lot heavier. When you have one storm after another, that’s when we get widespread flooding.”

With Jocelyn due later today, a yellow warning for wind has been issued across the whole of Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and north-west England.

However, gusts are not expected to be as strong as those in Storm Isha – as some people posted the effects of on social media. There’s also 13 flood warnings across England, and 15 across Scotland.

Winds should begin to ease off slowly on Wednesday – which will turn into a much brighter day, with a few scattered showers.

Have you got a story or video you think our audience will love? We want to hear from you, drop us an email on submit@propermanchester.com and we’ll get back to you.