Brave scientists on a ‘hurricane hunting’ plane that is used to study the world’s most lethal tempests are preparing to fly into Storm Eowyn as it roars towards Britain.
The plane is fuelling up at Shannon Airport in County Clare in Ireland, ready to fly over the storm and take samples along the way.
It is one of the most technologically advanced weather measuring aircraft on the planet.
The United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has two ‘Hurricane Hunter’ planes which are converted Lockheed WP-3D aircraft – named Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog.
They normally work within the hurricane and tornado hotspots from the Gulf of Mexico up through the tornado belt.
But Storm Eowyn is to be so extreme that N42RF ‘Kermit the Frog’ was dispatched on a hurricane chasing mission.
it can spend up to 12 hours airborne with surveys of storm systems lasting 8-10 hours at a time with a crew of 20.
Engineers, scientists and the crew left Halifax Stansfield in Canada just after 3am Irish time, and is expected to arrive in Shannon Airport at around 2pm after almost 11 hours studying the storm.
It will fly above, dropping lightweight sensors into the storm and reading their flight to get a handle on the forces involved.
‘That sounds absolutely terrifying! Wishing everyone on that flight a safe return!!’ one person said on X.
When a NOAA team braved Hurricane Milton over the Gulf of Mexico in October 2024, dramatic video showed rain lashing against the windows of the aircraft as it flew through endless cloud coverage that shook the cabin and knocked the crew to the floor.
The four NOAA researchers, who flew inside a Lockheed WP-3D Orion aircraft, went headfirst into the hurricane.
While dangerous, it is one of the best ways for meteorologists to obtain data to prepare residents on the ground.
In a pre-flight briefing for a similar mission, NOAA flight director Sofia de Solo explained the goals of the risky plane ride previously.
‘This data is used at the National Hurricane Centre to improve forecasts and the data is input into the models,’ she said.
Millions of Brits have been warned of ‘exceptional’ hurricane-force 100mph winds which will create chaos across the UK and cause travel disruption.
Hundreds of planes and thousands of trains have been cancelled, with a map revealing the path the extreme weather system will take as it batters the country.
Nearly five million people received a government emergency alert on their phones last night in the ‘largest real life use of the tool to date’.
It played a loud siren sound for 10 seconds, even on phones which were on silent, and included information about the weather warnings and advice on how to stay safe.
The Met Office issued dire warnings for ‘exceptional’ hurricane-force winds, with the worst of Storm Eowyn expected to strike from the early hours of Friday across Scotland and Northern Ireland, where winds could reach up to 100mph.
Forecasters say flying debris could result in danger to life and ‘very dangerous’ driving conditions because of fallen trees. They have even warned pet owners to keep their dogs on leads amid fears they could be swept away by strong waves on the coast.
Schools and childcare settings will be shut and people have been advised to remain indoors as Ireland prepares for one of the ‘most dangerous storms’ it has ever faced.
Members of the Defence Forces will also be on standby and will be deployed across the country where needed.
The chairman of the National Emergency Co-ordination Group, Keith Leonard, said that Storm Eowyn will be one of the most severe storms Ireland has seen.
‘It is going to be a damaging, dangerous and destructive weather event,’ he said in Dublin on Friday.
Eoin Sherlock, head of forecasting at Met Eireann, said red nationwide warnings have been issued because of the ‘extraordinary intensity’ of the storm.
‘The storm is going to approach the south-west coast early tonight, and it will spread northwards through the country.
‘We expect this storm to be destructive, dangerous and disruptive. We can expect (gusts) greater than 130 kilometres per hour inland, which is very, very unusual.’
The season’s fifth named storm could be so bad that BBC weather presenter Judith Ralston said: ‘This is one major storm. I’ve not seen anything like it in my career.’
Another weather expert warned that Storm Eowyn could bring the lowest pressure to Scotland since 1982, making it one of the ‘most intense’ storms to hit the country in recent history.
Forecasters even warned pet owners to keep their dogs on leads amid fears they could be swept away by strong waves on the coast.
A Red warning is in place in Northern Ireland from 7am to 2pm on Friday, and in parts of Scotland between 10am and 5pm.
Amber weather warnings for wind have been issued for northern England from 6am until 9pm, and a yellow weather warning covers most of southern England for the whole of Friday.
Storm Eowyn could also spark travel hell, with Network Rail warning it is expected to bring ‘the strongest winds in a decade’ – as commuters were told to avoid travelling in parts of the north of the UK today.
Forecasters are warning of flying debris resulting in danger to life, as well as ‘very dangerous’ driving conditions because of fallen trees. There may also be power cuts, damage to buildings and homes, and delays and cancellations to bus, train, ferry services and flights.
This also marks the first red weather warning issued for Northern Ireland since the Met Office moved to impact-based warnings in 2011.
STV meteorologist Sean Batty warned the storm could be one of the worst to hit Scotland since Hurricane ‘Bawbag’ (official name Friedhelm) in 2011.
But just weeks later, in January 2012, an even more powerful storm swept through central Scotland, leaving hundreds of thousands without power.
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