Storm Chandra brought heavy rain with flooding, strong winds and hill snow on Tuesday 27th January. Somerset Council declared a major incident with the support and agreement of local partners, including the Environment Agency. Properties have flooded in communities across Somerset, Dorset and Devon. The low is now swinging away to the west leaving a colder night with the risk of ice as the skies cleared and the winds eased.
Rainfall accumulations up to 10pm Tues 27th for 24 hours
It is still windy in northeastern Scotland and the Northern Isles for Wednesday morning but elsewhere the recovery from Chandra’s flooding will take days. Heavy rain fell onto saturated ground, filling the rivers with some bursting their banks.
“Our pumping stations are operating whenever possible. However, pumps can only operate when there is space in the rivers to receive the water… National resources are being deployed, and we have also deployed mobile pumps to other areas of Somerset that have been impacted by flooding.” At Northmoor, there are six additional pumps with pipework being connected but this does take time. “We expect to be pumping by Thursday evening.”EA
The A30 in Devon closed near Exeter Airport due to significant flooding. There were closures on the railways in the southwest, Cornwall and Somerset and to Southampton. The A40 flooded in Wales with disruption to smaller roads in SW Britain and stormy conditions around the coasts as heavy showers continued around the low centre. Dozens of schools closed in Devon due to flood damage and football matches were cancelled. The Isles of Scilly saw winds of 54mph at 9am
The River Otter in Devon reached its highest level ever recorded with the scene being described as a raging torrent. There are still numerous river flood warnings across the region with high groundwater levels too. The heavy rain followed wet weather in Storm Ingrid and there is more rain forecast on Thursday with another rain warning from the Met Office.
“Further rain is expected and may lead to more flooding and transport disruption.” MO
Environment Agency flood warnings Weds 28th 8am
As the frontal rain reached the higher ground of northern Britain, there was some snowfall. The A66 snow gates had been closed for the trans Pennine route and plough teams worked to have that reopened in the afternoon. Carlisle recorded winds of 58mph at 10am.
Further north, there was snow over the Scottish mountains with grim conditions as the strong easterly winds continued to hit North Sea coasts. The summit of Cairngorm had a gust over 110mph and the Isle of Man saw a gust of 62mph. With driving rain and the strong, gusty winds there was ferry disruption around northern Britain and across to Ireland.
In Northern Ireland over 300 schools were closed as thousands of properties had power outages. Houses were flooded in County Antrim and flights were cancelled at Belfast City Airport. A woman in County Fermangh escaped injury when a tree fell on her car in the strong winds. Katesbridge in County Down saw its wettest day on record with 100.8mm of rain.
Northern Ireland power outages Tues 27th 10pm
In Ireland there was also heavy rain and flooding. Motorists had to be rescued as several rivers, including the Dodder, burst their banks and a few flights were cancelled at Dublin Airport. There was also disruption on the railway network and there are still power outages in the east of Ireland on Wednesday morning.
The frontal rain from Chandra will continue to clear from NE Britain with much lighter winds across mainland Britain and Northern Ireland today. Early showery outbreaks of rain over SW Britain will fade and for many it will be a fine day midweek with temperatures around 7 to 9C. So much improved on the grim weather in Storm Chandra midweek before a new weather front approaches SW England on Thursday.
It has been even worse in Spain and Portugal. They have been sitting in an unsettled westerly flow directed by a large mature low ‘Joseph’. IPMA, the Portuguese Met Service has also named ‘Kirstin’ a new smaller low which nipped in from the Atlantic on Wednesday morning. There are red and amber coastal warnings and red wind warnings for Portugal and Andalusia with numerous other warnings for heavy rain and inland snow.
The extreme cold over North America at the start of the week has certainly fired up a powerful jet which is developing a barrage of impactful low pressures for western Europe.
More discussion on the Netweather community forum about Storm Chandra
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