The Met Office has issued a ‘stay indoors’ warning ahead of the arrival of Storm Eunice on Friday, which is forecast to bring snow and strong winds of up to 100mph in northern England.
After it was reported earlier this week that the UK was to be hit by two storms within three days, which would bring strong winds, heavy rain showers, and even some snow and ‘blizzard conditions’, Storm Dudley arrived on Tuesday night into Wednesday, and left thousands of homes without power across the north and Scotland, and also caused travel chaos on roads and train lines.
Yellow weather alerts with an amber warnings were put in place for the two events.
Now, after a brief respite on Thursday, people are being warned to prepare for even worse weather as Storm Eunice moves in and threatens “significant disruption” for much of the UK.
As well as advising people to stay indoors if possible, the Met Office has also issued a “danger to life” amber warning which covers all of the north, and widespread parts of England for tomorrow, and unfortunately, there’s also warnings of further power outages and disruption to transport services as well.
More than 14,000 people suffered power outages, and travel was disrupted by uprooted trees across the UK following winds of more than 80mph during Storm Dudley.
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Looking ahead to #StormEunice on Friday, we are expecting to see even more dangerous weather conditions moving in 💨
“Yellow and amber warnings for wind have been issued for Storm Eunice, which is going to impact much of the UK on Friday,” the Met Office confirmed in a statement.
“The most significant wind gusts are expected in the south and west of the UK, with an amber warning now in force here from the early hours of Friday morning.
“Inland areas could see gusts to around 80mph, bringing the potential for fallen trees, damage to buildings and travel disruption [and] although Storm Eunice’s strongest winds will be on its southern edge, the northern flank of the system brings the potential for some snow to northern areas.
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“A yellow warning for wind and snow has been issued covering Northern Ireland, northern England and southern Scotland, where potentially up to 20cm of snow could accumulate over high ground, with up to 5cm possible in some lower areas.
“Brisk winds in this area could cause blizzard-like conditions and drifting of lying snow, reducing visibility, and making driving conditions difficult.”
The Met Office has issued a ‘danger to life’ amber warning for tomorrow / Credit: Met Office
Explaining the impact Storm Eunice is likely the have and the reason for its arrival, Frank Saunders – Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office – said: “An active jet stream is helping to drive low-pressure systems across the country.
“Significant disruption is possible from Storm Eunice, with strong winds one of the main themes of the current forecast.
“Storm Eunice is expected to track eastwards from early on Friday, bringing the most significant winds to the central and southern areas of the UK, with some gusts possible in excess of 95mph in exposed coastal areas.”
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Storm Eunice’s amber warning for northern England begins at 3am on Friday and lasts until 9pm, and a snow warning in northern areas is in place from 3am until 6pm the same day.
Government sets out multi-million-pound plan to move UK away from animal testing in science
Emily Sergeant
A £22m push to ramp up the UK’s move away from animal testing in science is set to bring together cutting-edge tech and research.
The latest figures show there were 2.54 million animal testing procedures in Great Britain in 2025, which is down 3.8% on 2024, but with a further update due to be released later this year, the Government is now moving to ‘capitalise’ on that momentum with funding to shift the nation onto alternative testing options.
A dedicated national research hub and nine new high-tech projects are planned to develop ‘better ways’ to test medicines on human biology rather than animals.
According to the Government, this means treatments for conditions like cancer and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) could be developed ‘faster’ and ‘more precisely’ to not only help patients but crucially also move science away from traditional animal testing.
At the heart of the plans is a new Pre-clinical Translational Models Hub – based in Cambridge and backed by £20 million in Government funding, which will work to build and share models of human tissue, grown from NHS patients, to test new treatments.
The new hub will accelerate the development of testing on ‘organoids’ – tiny, simplified versions of a human gut, tumour or brain, using cells donated by patients.
From beating heart cells in a dish to AI that can predict how drugs move through the body, exciting alternatives to animal testing are transforming medical research.
We're investing £22m to help scientists develop the next generation of life-saving treatments. pic.twitter.com/1EWRQvwySa
— Dept. for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (@biztradegovuk) August 12, 2026
Because these ‘organoids’ retain crucial features of a patient’s own biology, they will help researchers learn how a real person may respond to a drug and provide additional insights that can complement information that is currently obtained from animals.
Scientists will then be able to use these cutting-edge techniques in their own labs to work out which medicines are worth pursuing.
Overall, it’s hoped that the move will slash the time it takes to get ‘potentially life-changing’ treatments to market.
Alongside the funding for the new Hub, nine cutting-edge projects aimed at identifying new methods of animal-free scientific testing – from beating heart cells in a dish, to lab-grown human ear models, and AI that predicts how medicines move through the body – are being funded.
Sadly, many of these still rely on testing on dogs and monkeys, as it stands.
“This marks another significant step forward in the UK’s move away from animal testing in science and research,” commented Science Minister Chris McDonald.
“This is all about backing our world-leading researchers and innovators to improve lives, giving them the tools they need to deliver more effective treatments for horrendous diseases like cancer, while also preventing the need for animal testing wherever possible.
“It’s also a boost for our life sciences sector, fuelling opportunities for new investment and new jobs, and ensuring Britain is better off.”
Elbow get behind campaign to save Jodrell Bank from closure
Danny Jones
Manc band Elbow are among the latest to get behind the campaign to save Jodrell Bank Observatory from closing permanently.
The Greater Manchester natives famously played a sold-out gig at the important scientific and cultural landmark for a very special live album recording well over a decade ago, and know all too well the site’s national and, indeed, global heritage.
Choosing the Observatory and the rare chance to perform a show in the shadow of the world-renowned James Lovell Telescope, it probably remains one of their most significant standalone UK date ever.
With that in mind, the local lads have been left just as worried by the news of its impending closure as everyone else, and have therefore issued a fresh appeal to help keep it open.
Posting a timely statement on social media, the group wrote: “Jodrell Bank has long been close to elbow’s heart. In 2012, the band played beneath the Lovell Telescope for one of the most memorable shows in our history.
“The recent news that funding for the e-MERLIN radio telescope network is set to end in 2028 puts the future of the scientific work at Jodrell Bank under serious threat. It is a remarkable place, with an extraordinary history, and one that continues to play an important role in science, culture and education.”
In addition to reliving clips and images from the historic live set all the years later, they also pointed people towards their ‘elbow – Live at Jodrell Bank‘ album documentary, which has now been made available online for the very first time as part of wider efforts to raise awareness around the cause.
Directing people to key online resources shared by the institution and astrophysics centre itself following their unfortunate update late last month, the push to not only find the funding but sustain support for the facility continues to ramp up throughout the world of science, arts and industry.
For anyone who somehow missed the news – 2028 being the current deadline handed down as per budget cuts across the sector – concerned parties here in the North West and all over the country have since started petitioning to save Jodrell Bank Observatory from shutting down for good.
In addition to being described as a “huge blow” to the field by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), some have even gone so far as to describe the decision as a form of “vandalism” when it comes to research and British culture as a whole.
Having also served as the host venue for the annual bluedot Festival since 2016, the multi-genre science and arts celebration could soon be forced to find a new home.
The battle is far from over yet, and the community has time to rescue Jodrell Bank Observatory from its fate, but it will take lots of money and more notable public figures to make it happen.
Once again, you can do your bit by signing the petition mentioned above right HERE.
Emily Sergeant -
17th February 2022 
