National Highways in collaboration with The Met Office have issued a severe weather alert for strong winds covering the the East of England, East Midlands, West Midlands, South East and South West, between the hours of 06:00 and 18:00 on 18 February 2022.
A deep area of low pressure is forecast to move east-northeast across northern England on Friday, bringing a spell of very strong winds on its southern flank (central and southern England). The storm has been named Storm Eunice, with an Amber National Severe Weather Warning Service (NSWWS) of medium likelihood of medium impacts.
The wind will increase from the west on Friday morning, reaching 60-70mph widely but 70-80mph locally, mainly along coastal areas and over bridges. The wind is expected to decrease from the southwest during the afternoon, but it will remain strong in the West Midlands, East Midlands and East Anglia until late.
• READ MORE: M1 closed both ways to high-sided vehicles because of strong winds at J34 – see diversion
• READ MORE: Updated: Storm Dudley – Amber and Yellow warning for winds up to 70 mph issued for Wednesday
There is a particularly high risk that high-sided vehicles and other ‘vulnerable’ vehicles such as caravans and motorbikes could be blown over on the following sections of roads:
East Midlands
M1 J22-J23 Leicester North to Loughborough
West Midlands
M50 J1-J2 Queenhill, Tewkesbury to Ledbury
M5 J1-J2 West Bromwich to Dudley
M5 J4-J5 Kidderminster to Redditch
M5 J7-J8 Worcester to J8 – M50; Strensham Services
M6 J6-J8 Spaghetti Junction to Friar Park (M5)
M6 J15-J16 Keele Services; immediately south of J16 – Audley
