Storm Bert was named by the Irish Met Éireann and Sigrid by Free University of Berlin on 21 November 2024.

Bert is expected to bring heavy snow and ice to parts of the UK, particularly in the north, on Thursday 21 and Friday 22 November 2024. As the storm passes, heavy rain will affect southern and western regions over the weekend. The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings and the UK Health Security Agency has issued cold weather alerts. Drivers are advised to take extra care on the roads due to icy conditions and to be prepared for potential disruptions.

An amber snow and ice warning was placed for parts of central Scotland, which included parts of Angus, Perth and Kinross, Stirling, Aberdeenshire, the Highlands, and Argyll and Bute. The warning was originally in place from 07:00-17:00 GMT on November 23, but expired earlier. There was also one for northern England from 06:00-11:59. Several yellow wind and rain warnings were issued for parts of England and Wales. A yellow wind warning was issued for the same areas, excluding Angus, and also included Eileanan Siar and Moray. A yellow warning of rain was also issued which included parts of Angus, Clackmannanshire, Perth and Kinross, Stirling, Aberdeenshire, Moray, Dumfries and Galloway, and the Scottish Borders. The next day a yellow wind warning was issued for the Midlands, East Anglia and the London area.

For Ireland, similar impacts are expected from Storm Bert, with Met Éireann issued yellow wind and rain warnings for the whole country. These are likely to be changed and updated as the system nears. In Ireland, 34,000 without power. The weather has also brought significant disruption, with several flights disrupted at Newcastle and Dublin airports and extreme flooding in Donegal. Elsewhere, Ferry operator DFDS has cancelled services on some routes until Monday with sailings from Newhaven to Dieppe and Dover to Calais being severely affected.

So far, as a result of the storm there have been five recorded fatalities. A 34-year-old man died after his car “spun off the road” in icy conditions and struck a wall in Shipley, West Yorkshire just before 1am. Hours later in a separate incident, a second man aged in his 60s was killed when a tree fell onto his vehicle in Hampshire shortly after 07.45. In North Wales the body of a 75-year-old man was recovered from the floods in the Conwy Valley. Five adults and five children have been rescued after a landslide in North Wales. Lancashire Police confirmed a man in his 80s died on Sunday after his car entered a body of water in Colne on Sunday. In Northamptonshire, a man in his 40s died in a crash on the A45 near Flore which police have described as an “unexplained death”. All 10 people were rescued from the house in Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog, near Llangollen.

Winds from Storm Bert strengthened on Saturday morning, with top gusts of 132 km/h recorded at Capel Curig in Wales, and 121 km/h at Needles on the Isle of Wight. In Scotland, the Cairngorm mountains saw blizzard conditions and winds of up to 169 km/h. Strong winds also forced the closure of the Severn Bridge, which connects Gloucestershire and South Wales.

Links:
Storm Bert teistert Ierland en UK met hevige sneeuw, regen en wind

Storm Bert in the news

Forse weersomslag: van sneeuw naar 17 graden in twee dagen tijd

Storm Bert zorgt voor zeldzaam hoge waterstanden: “Alle afvoergemalen worden gebruikt”