A yellow weather warning is in place on Sunday with forecasters are predicting strong winds across Cumbria in the first named storm of the season.
Storm Ashley will initially bring impacts to the Republic of Ireland and has therefore been named by and Met Éireann.
The area of low pressure, will then track north eastwards reaching the Cumbria early on Sunday morning, bringing strong winds and rain across Cumbria as it moves into Scotland were an Amber Weather Warning for wind is in place for Sunday and Monday.
Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist Tony Wisson, said: “Storm Ashley will bring strong winds for most of the UK on Sunday before it clears on Monday, with a chance of some disruption across parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland, Northwest England and West Wales.
A period of especially strong winds are expected on Sunday afternoon and evening where gusts could potentially reach 70-80mph in exposed areas.
More generally 50-60 mph are possible in some inland areas in other parts of the warning area, and perhaps up to 60-70 mph along exposed coasts and hills.
Storm Ashley is set to bring widespread disruption for travel on Sunday and into Monday. Passengers should certainly check with their operator.
The forecasted rain will make visibility difficult when driving and could result in some localised flooding.
As part of the yellow weather warning, the Met Office say that people should expect fallen trees and that there is a good chance that power cuts may occur, with the potential to affect other services, such as mobile phone coverage.
Winds will ease as Storm Ashley pulls away to the east on Monday leaving a mix of sunny spells and scattered showers for many but disruption to rail services and the local highway network could impact Monday morning journeys across Cumbria.
Electricity North West is putting plans in place to monitor the network and ensure supplies and teams are available to respond if the storm causes damage to overhead lines.
Richard Moulton, incident manager for Electricity North West, said: “We’ve been monitoring the weather for several days and started to plan ahead of Storm Ashley being named.
“The forecast is for extremely strong winds across Cumbria and surrounding areas. Our local teams are on standby and ready to respond quickly to support our customers.
“We’re encouraging customers who may benefit from extra support to make sure they’re signed up to our free Extra Care Register and check our website and social media channels for updates.”
Storm Ashley is the first named storm of winter after last year brought a record-breaking 12 named storms.
Richard Moulton added: “Our preparations for bad weather never stop. Our teams of tree cutters work year-round engaging with landowners for permission to cut back trees from overhead lines to reduce the chance of swaying branches causing power cuts in stormy weather.
“While we do as much as we can, falling trees and other debris can still cause damage to the network. If people do see damage to the power network because of Storm Ashley, firstly they must stay away from the equipment as it could still be live and then immediately call us on 105 to report and to allow us to make the area safe.”
Electricity North West offers extra support to customers through their Priority Services Register. For more information and to register visit www.enwl.co.uk/priority.
North West Network Rail response teams have been working hard to prepare for the impacts, deploying pumps and using technology to ensure lines are clear where possible. Network Rail also have additional teams on standby to remove trees and additional water pumps ready to be used if they are needed.
Paul Owen, North West operations director at Network Rail: “Our priority is to keep passengers and freight trains safely on the move, but due to the effects of Storm Ashley, some services will be delayed or diverted while our specialist responses teams clear any blockages or flooding away from the tracks. We are also expecting high winds which will mean speed restrictions on some routes for safety reasons.
“We would like to thank passengers for their patience. Our advice for passengers travelling to today is to check before you travel, as some journeys may take longer.”
Penrith.Town will bring live updates as Storm Ashley moves through the county with details of any power cuts and disruption to travel in the area.
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