LONDON (AP) – Ireland experienced record-breaking wind gusts of 114 miles (183 kilometers) per hour as a powerful winter storm, named Storm Éowyn, swept through the country and affected northern regions of the United Kingdom on Friday, January 24, 2025. The severe weather left hundreds of thousands without electricity, disrupted transportation, and caused significant damage across the affected areas.
In response to the storm, schools were closed, train services were suspended, and hundreds of flights were canceled across the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. The Irish Meteorological Service, Met Éireann, issued a rare “red” weather warning, indicating a danger to life, covering the entire island of Ireland as well as central and southwest Scotland. Northern Ireland's First Minister, Michelle O’Neill, urged residents to remain indoors, warning that they were currently in the most dangerous phase of the storm.
Scottish First Minister John Swinney echoed these sentiments, emphasizing that travel should be avoided due to the hazardous conditions. The impact of Storm Éowyn was considerable, with over 700,000 homes and businesses in Ireland and nearly 100,000 in Northern Ireland left without power. The Irish Electricity Supply Board described the damage to the electrical infrastructure as “unprecedented, widespread, and extensive,” highlighting the severity of the storm's effects.
The storm's destructive winds were particularly notable in Mace Head on Ireland's west coast, where the wind gusts reached an all-time record, surpassing the previous high of 113 miles (182 kilometers) per hour set in 1945. The considerable energy fueling Storm Éowyn partially originated from a weather system that brought historic snowfall to the Gulf Coast of the United States, indicating the complex interplay between weather patterns in different regions.
Jason Nicholls, a lead international forecaster at AccuWeather, noted that the storm is further strengthened by the dynamics of the jet stream and energized by weather systems in the upper atmosphere. There is a potential for Storm Éowyn to develop into a bomb cyclone if the pressure within the storm drops by 24 millibars within a 24-hour period, a phenomenon that can lead to even more severe weather conditions.
While it remains difficult for scientists to attribute the exact influence of climate change on individual storms, they agree that all weather events are occurring in a rapidly warming atmosphere due to human-generated emissions, including carbon dioxide and methane. This ongoing climate crisis contributes to the increasing intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, such as powerful storms like Éowyn.
As Ireland and the U.K. brace for continued impacts from Storm Éowyn, the authorities stress the importance of safety precautions and adherence to weather warnings. Communities are urged to stay prepared and vigilant as the storm continues to cause disruption and create hazardous conditions.
