Storm Éowyn is bringing destructive winds to northwestern parts of the UK, forcing many c-stores to close after the Met Office issued rare red weather warnings for Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland.
The Republic of Ireland took the brunt of the storm in the early hours of this morning, with a peak recorded wind gust of 114mph at Mace Head, leaving more than 715,000 premises without power.
Spar and Eurospar stores owned and operated by Henderson Retail in Northern Ireland will close for a period of time today and will reopen one hour after the red alert ends, if it is safe to do so. Henderson Wholesale deliveries have also been suspended for the duration of the red alert and will recommence when it is safe.
A spokesperson from Spar partner James Hall & Co. said: “Our deliveries went out on schedule as normal this morning to ensure that our SPAR stores are serviced wherever they are in the North of England. A handful of stores have closed due to the weather, but the vast majority are open and are trading. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and will act if needed to keep our drivers, store teams, and customers safe.”
Meanwhile, Nisa reported some ”localised disruption and a few of today’s deliveries have been rearranged for tomorrow (Saturday), or will be delivered around the time the storm is expected to be past its worst”.
As the storm continues to move north eastwards, the strongest winds are now expected to shift across Northern Ireland and parts of western and central Scotland.
Met Office chief meteorologist Jason Kelly said Storm Éowyn is now bringing very strong winds to parts of the UK: “There is potential for gusts of 100mph in exposed locations within the Red warning area. Anyone in these Red and Amber warning areas should listen to advice from local responders and keep up to date with weather warnings for their area.”
Many retailers have taken to social media to keep their customers informed.
Meanwhile, other retailers are doing their best to ensure customers have access to essential items with some stores offering delivery services in areas affected by the storm.
Find out what to do if your store has been affected by Storm Éowyn here.
While the worst of the winds from Storm Éowyn are expected to ease later on Friday, Scotland will continue to see gusty winds through Saturday as the low pressure clears to the northeast.
“After a brief calmer spell, another area of low pressure will bring further strong winds and heavy rain through Sunday. The strongest winds will be focussed in western parts, while the wettest conditions will likely be across Wales, central and southern England. This low pressure will not be as powerful as Storm Éowyn but it could hamper the recovery efforts of responders in some of the impacted areas from Friday’s storm,” warned Met Office deputy chief Meteorologist Mark Sidaway.
The Met Office has indicated that warnings may be updated throughout the weekend and into next week, advising people to stay informed about the forecast.
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