A number of network operators, such as Openreach (BT), have put out notifications to warn partners and customers about the expected impact of Storm Éowyn tomorrow morning. The named storm is expected to be particularly vicious when it strikes Ireland, which is why it’s generating some headlines online, although its impact upon the UK will still be nasty.
The storm itself is the result of explosive cyclogenesis (aka – a weather bomb), which reflects a low-pressure system whose central pressure falls 24 millibars in 24 hours. Yesterday the Met Office reported that the storm had a central air pressure of 1001hPa, but that this was expected to drop by 62hPa over the following 30 hours (yikes). At the time of writing, the storm’s core is at around 971hPa.
Needless to say, extremely damaging winds (including major gusts), heavy rain, lightning and snow (in some areas) are to be expected. Most of the concern about this being a potentially “historic storm” are coming from Ireland, where it seems likely to be particularly nasty. But Storm Éowyn (pronounced ‘Ay-oh-win’) will still be very nasty for Northern Ireland, as well as northern parts of Wales, England, and a lot of Scotland.
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In a brief statement, Openreach said: “We’re closely monitoring the situation and have activated our established storm response processes to minimise potential disruptions. In areas under Amber weather warnings, we may need to defer some tasks until it is safe to proceed. Across all regions, risk assessments will be carried out, prioritising the safety of our engineers.”
Storms like this have a tendency to knock down trees and cause flooding, which can impact broadband street cabinets and telecoms poles, among other things. In the aftermath, we’re likely to see Openreach place some areas under their Matters Beyond Our Reasonable Control (MBORC) designation, which could mean delays to new service provisions as repairs take priority. Other network operators in the worst hit areas may have similar challenges.
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With the prediction of increased storms in the future due to climate change , the seas warming and hence likely more severe storm occurrence .
It makes you wonder the thought processes and buisness decisions to build new infrastructure by telegraph poles and masts rather than invest in underground infrastructure .
Especially where much of this new infrastructure is duplication and more and exists in areas where newer infrastructure had already gone underground . Most of this replication in Urban areas ,where risks of damage caused should telegraph poles or masts be damage would be increased . Doesn’t make any sense
Your comment doesn’t make any sense either. Try again in English with correct use of punctuation and tense among other things.
Soon some people are going to have to rely on these networks for their telephone calls and more importantly, calls to emergency services.
Surely these networks, using modern technology, should be more reliable, more resilient and we shouldn’t be worried about them being knocked out by a storm?
H-W Joyce’s text is not a problem to the rest of us. Though I would say that having communications cables near tress should be avoided, because you are relying on the tree owners to remove dead bits before strong winds do.
Underground is all well and good but it needs protection from flooding or accidental damage,for example a water company digging when they repair a damaged pipe