A 'major incident' has been declared, a 'red' weather warning is in place and flooding is expected ahead of Storm Eunice hitting Bristol tomorrow (Friday, February 18).
According to the Met Office forecast, wind gusts will be at their strongest in the city at around 10am tomorrow, where they will rise to some 63mph. However from 8am gusts will soar from 43mph to 50mph and will continue to be above 30mph until midnight.
Wind speeds will then pick up again between 12pm and 9pm on Saturday, with highs of 42mph gusts. In Avonmouth, where the brunt of the storm looks set to hit hardest, wind gusts will jump from 50mph to 60mph between 8am and 9am, before soaring to 64mph between 10am and 12pm, when they will begin to fall.
Read more: Bristol weather LIVE: Storm Eunice declared 'major incident' and schools closed
National Highways has said gusts could be as high as 90mph in the Avonmouth area. It said in a statement this afternoon: "Storm Eunice will bring some exceptionally strong winds around the Bristol Channel peaking tomorrow morning with 70-80mph gusts and potentially peaking at 90 mph over the Avonmouth and Severn Bridges.
"This will lead to dangerous driving conditions for vulnerable vehicles with exceptional sidewinds and wind-blown debris with essential travel only advised." Scroll down for the full forecast
So far, First bus has cancelled all buses in Bristol until the afternoon, both Bristol City Council and South Gloucestershire Council have cancelled tomorrow's waste and recycling collections, university campuses and most Bristol schools have announced they will close for the day, as too have a number of top attractions in Bristol.
The Environment Agency has also warned that it is expecting conditions to create "a tidal surge along the north coast of Devon, Cornwall and Somerset", the peak time for which is said to be at around 8.15am. While the Port of Bristol has also made a number of safety precautions.
The M4 Prince of Wales Bridge is set to close tomorrow (Friday, February 18) and people are being asked not to travel along certain stretches of the M5 motorway, due to extremely windy conditions. Even the Clifton Suspension Bridge looks set to close, with a decision on that due in the morning.
A spokesperson said: "We are closing the visitor centre for the whole day for the safety of our team and visitors, and are monitoring wind speeds on the bridge. Depending on wind speed and direction, we may be closing the bridge to traffic and pedestrians at short notice. We’ll be updating on the situation on our Facebook and Twitter channels."
Here is the hour-by-hour forecast for Bristol during Storm Eunice
This is the Met Office forecast for Bristol, correct as of 9pm this evening (Thursday). Storm Eunice is expected to make landfall in the early hours of Friday morning:
Thursday
9pm: 10% chance of rain, 15mph wind, nine degrees
10pm: 90% chance of rain, 15mph wind, eight degrees
11pm: 90% chance of rain, 11mph wind, eight degrees
Friday
12am: 80% chance of rain, 20mph wind, eight degrees
1am: 60% chance of rain, 30mph wind, eight degrees
2am: 50% chance of rain, 35mph wind, nine degrees
3am: 50% chance of rain, 38mph wind, 11 degrees
4am: 90% chance of rain, 39mph wind, 11 degrees
5am: 90% chance of rain, 43mph wind, 11 degrees
6am: 80% chance of rain, 39mph wind, 10 degrees
7am: 30% chance of rain, 43mph wind, 10 degrees
8am: less than 5% chance of rain, 50mph wind, nine degrees
9am: 10% chance of rain, 56mph wind, eight degrees
10am: 50% chance of rain, 63mph wind, seven degrees
11am: 20% chance of rain, 61mph wind, six degrees
12pm: 10% chance of rain, 58mph wind, six degrees
1pm: 10% chance of rain, 54mph wind, seven degrees
2pm: 10% chance of rain, 53mph wind, eight degrees
3pm: 40% chance of rain, 52mph wind, seven degrees
4pm: 40% chance of rain, 49mph wind, six degrees
5pm: 10% chance of rain, 45mph wind, six degrees
6pm: less than 5% chance of rain, 42mph wind, five degrees
7pm: less than 5% chance of rain, 37mph wind, five degrees
8pm: less than 5% chance of rain, 35mph wind, five degrees
9pm: less than 5% chance of rain, 32mph wind, four degrees
10pm: less than 5% chance of rain, 33mph wind, five degrees
11pm: less than 5% chance of rain, 32mph wind, four degrees
Saturday
12am: less than 5% chance of rain, 30mph wind, four degrees
Wind speed picks up again between 12pm and 9pm with highs of 42mph gusts.
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Also read: Storm Eunice has Bristol Port on 'red warning' alert as high winds and 'tidal surge' expected
Read more: UK weather: Charts show blizzards and 90mph gales as Storm Dudley and Storm Eunice hammer Britain
