Storm Bert could bring ‘weather bomb’ to Caithness and other parts of the north
Caithness and other parts of the north could be hit by a “weather bomb” on Saturday as Storm Bert sweeps in.
The Met Office has a yellow warning in place covering parts of the northern Highlands, with some disruption possible.
Wick weather watcher Keith Banks warned that exposed coastal parts could be blasted by a gale force 8 east-south-easterly.
Keith said: “An Arctic air mass has brought unseasonably cold temperatures coupled with intermittent snowfall to Caithness during the past week.
“It followed a protracted spell of very mild weather. Last Friday [November 15] the temperature reached 14.1C, or 57.4F, in Wick. However, with Arctic air digging behind a cold front last weekend, this week has hosted the first air frosts of this autumn.
“Wick experienced a minimum air temperature as low as a moderately severe minus 3.5C (25.7F) on Tuesday – the lowest air temperature recorded in the town since April 5. The average minimum for November is 3.9C (39F).
“Daytime temperatures have been depressed with values well below the November average of 8.9C (48F). On Monday, November 18, the mercury struggled to reach a high of just 1.5C (34.7F), with the Arctic airflow pegging daytime temperatures back to between 3C-4C (37.4F-39.4F) during the subsequent days.
“Up to 2cm of snowfall was measurable in Wick at times. Today [Friday] will remain very cold. The temperature in Wick at 11am on Friday was just minus 0.7C (30.7F), and with clear skies and negligible wind this evening a harsh air frost is likely even in coastal locations.
“However, the Arctic air mass that has enveloped the British Isles will be rapidly displaced during the weekend as Storm Bert makes its presence felt.
“Storm Bert is the second named storm of the European storm season and was named by the Met Eireann, the Irish weather service, on Thursday. Bert will track north-eastwards to the north-west of Ireland later this evening and during tomorrow and, as it does so, undergo a process called explosive cyclogenesis, with its central pressure expected to fall by more than 24mb within 24 hours. If this happens, Storm Bert will attain the status of a ‘weather bomb’.
“A gale force 8 east-south-easterly wind will pummel Wick and other exposed coastal parts of Caithness during the late afternoon and evening, with the likelihood of damaging gusts in the storm 10 and even violent storm 11 categories of the Beaufort scale (57mph-72mph).
“Travel could be disrupted by heavy rainfall and a rapid thaw causing hazardous standing water on roads, and precipitation is likely to fall as snow over higher ground with the possibility of the A9 being closed at the Ord of Caithness.
“Significantly milder Atlantic air will arrive during the early hours of Sunday as the wind veers southerly, with temperatures likely to reach a mild 10C (50F).”