The first named storm of this year is heading for the UK and northwest Europe, threatening to bring havoc to infrastructure as well as a surge in wind power production on Friday.
(Bloomberg) — The first named storm of this year is heading for the UK and northwest Europe, threatening to bring havoc to infrastructure as well as a surge in wind power production on Friday.
The UK Met Office issued yellow weather warnings and predicted gusts as high as 80 miles (129 kilometers) per hour along the coast and hills on Friday. Forecasters at Sweden’s SMHI expect the storm to last into the weekend, bringing heavy rain and snow, resulting in an orange warning.
The low-pressure system was named by Danish weather experts as that’s the nation likely to get hit the hardest, the Met Office said on its website.
“Injuries and danger to life from flying debris are possible,” the Met Office said. “Road, rail, air and ferry services may be affected, with longer journey times and cancellations possible.”
The storm is also leading to a surge in wind generation for the UK and the Nordic region, causing electricity prices to plunge. Power prices for Friday in western Denmark, a region facing the North Sea and which relies on wind for much of its electricity, slid 42% from a day earlier in an auction on the Nord Pool exchange.
Thousands of turbines generated almost 60% of Britain’s power on Friday morning, according to grid data.
Germany’s national forecaster DWD expects widespread gusts of wind in the north of the country on Friday, which will temporarily decrease at night before picking up again.
Unseasonably mild weather is expected for most of Europe this weekend, according to forecaster Maxar Technologies, with temperatures in London forecast to rise to 6C above the seasonal average on Friday.
Paris will be 6.3C warmer than the norm on Friday, with Berlin 5.5C above. Only northern Europe is forecast to turn colder approaching Sunday, Maxar said.
(Updates with DWD, Maxar forecasts, power prices)
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