Hurricane Eunice issued the first red weather warning in London on February 19, 2022. It was one of the most powerful storms in Europe since 1984, when the Great Storm affected Britain and northern France.
At least 13 people have died in Europe due to strong winds, falling trees and debris. It has taken 1.4 million homes off the grid, with emergency workers struggling to restore power.
It also severely affected travel in Britain, closing the English Channel port of Dover and the bridges connecting England and Wales.
It has also stopped most trains in and out of London. It had winds of up to 200 mph. Eunice is the second hurricane to hit Europe this week. The first storm killed at least five people in Germany and Poland.
The Eunice Storm is similar to the 1987 “Great Storm”, which produced typhoon winds and killed 22 people across Britain and France. Both these storms are predicted to be “sting jets”. A sting jet is a small, narrow air current that can form inside a storm and produce strong winds over an area less than 100 km across. Such storms are difficult to predict and are relatively rare.
