Storm Eunice Wakefield: Council on standby as yellow weather warning in place for high winds

Strong winds are expected to hit the district today with travel highly likely to be affected across the city as Storm Eunice rolls in.

Winds could reach 90mph in southern England and some snow is expected across the north. It comes just days after Storm Dudley hit parts of the UK.

People have been warned to expect 'significant disruption and dangerous conditions' with transport of all kinds highly likely to be affected.

A yellow warning for wind stretches across the whole of Yorkshire with an amber wind warning for some parts of South and East Yorkshire.

Wakefield Council have teams on standby to respond to fallen trees and branches, so they should report any problems or concerns to 0345 8 506 506.

You can also report power outages to Northern Powergrid via 105.

Today:

Storm Eunice will bring heavy rain this afternoon with widespread gales or severe gales later. Maximum temperature 6 °C.

Tonight:

Further bands of rain and hill snow moving across the region overnight. Winds continuing to ease, after early gales in places. Cold with a local ground frost and some ice. Minimum temperature -1 °C.

Saturday:

A cold and bright start, with some wintry showers, mainly on hills. Meanwhile, an area of rain and hill snow is likely to arrive from the west during the afternoon. Maximum temperature 8 °C.

Northern Powergrid said that Storm Dudley brought windspeeds of over 70 mph and over 20,000 customers have been affected by power cuts.

They said: "Our teams have made great progress and we are now focussed on reconnecting the final 200 who are still off supply which we expect to complete this evening.

"Our welfare support teams have been mobilised to help those customers who have been without power. Our customer support vehicles have been deployed and we have had food vans available. We are continuing to work closely with our local resilience partners and are being guided by them as to where the support is most needed in communities affected.

"We are also preparing ourselves for Storm Eunice, which is due to hit our region on Friday. On this occasion the most concerning aspects of the forecast are for other parts of the country, however, the wind speeds combined with snow do have the potential to cause some damage to our network.

"We are preparing on the basis there will be some disruption to power supplies.

"We will continue to apply the same approach to providing estimated times of restoration. Where there is still significant uncertainty about the likely response time, we will apply an initial estimated restoration time based on typical averages for this sort of situation.

"As soon as we are able, we will then provide an updated estimated restoration time when we have more certainty about the work involved and when resources will be available to be dispatched.

"You can find more information on how our initial estimates work by visiting our website (click here)."

Northern Powergrid said that If you are impacted, you can report a power cut and find out all of the latest information by visiting www.northernpowergrid.com/power-cuts, social media feeds on Facebook and Twitter (@NorthPowergrid) and direct messaging.

The best place for any customers who want to make sure we know about their power cut and/or want to be updated on likely restoration time is through the website power cut checker. The contact centre agents won't know any more about power cut restoration times than is available on the power cut checker or provided through the automatic messaging.

Customers with a disability, medical condition or very young families, who may need greater assistance during a power cut and have signed up to the company's Priority Services Membership, will be kept updated as a priority.

For any customers on the priority service register who require further support, you can contact our dedicated priority service line 0800 169 2996.

Customer support vehicles are also prepared and ready to go out into local communities, where possible, to offer help on the ground to those who need it most.

They added: "We are also reminding anyone who spots any damaged overhead power lines or other equipment that they must not approach the area and should report it immediately by calling 105.

"Our 24/7 contact centre will be available with advisors ready to provide information, advice and support to customers who call 105, the free, three-digit power cut number."