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.
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.
“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.”
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.
More than 100 ‘unsafe’ counterfeit Labubus seized in Oldham
Daisy Jackson
More than 100 counterfeit Labubus and accessories have been seized in Oldham, the council has announced.
The Labubu dolls – a plush collectible with giant smiles and bunny ears – have been seized because they are fake, and unsafe.
The haul of 104 Labubus has been given a street value of between £800 and £1000 – but if they were the real deal, they’d be worth more than three times as much.
The poorly-made figures were being sold for a fraction of the price of a real Labubu, which are manufactured by Chinese company Pop Mart (it’s set to open its second Manchester store in the Trafford Centre next week).
Oldham Council’s Trading Standards team said it seized the counterfeit Labubus from local businesses and found that they were unsafe and poorly made.
Officers raised concerns about the safety of the dolls, which had small parts such as eyes, hands and feet broke off easily, creating a choking hazard.
What a genuine Labubu should look like. Credit: The Hoot Leeds
They were also missing legally required safety marks such as the CE or UKCA labels, and lacked the name and address of a UK supplier, which is another legal requirement.
Councillor Elaine Taylor, Oldham Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing and Licensing, said: “Oldham Trading Standards carries out regular checks to help keep unsafe products off the shelves. In this case, these counterfeit toys failed safety standards and have now been removed from sale.
“We know it can be tempting to buy toys that look like a bargain, but parents need to be extra careful. Fake toys like these may be cheaper, but they can put children in real danger if they’re not made to strict safety standards.
“If anyone has concerns about toys they’ve purchased, or if they see unsafe products on sale locally, we’d encourage them to get in touch with Trading Standards through the Consumer Helpline on 0808 223 1133.”
Council publishes list of central Manchester roads set to be resurfaced this summer
Emily Sergeant
A list of roads in Manchester that are set to be resurfaced before the summer is out has been published.
Manchester City Council recently asked residents in the region what their priorities were for their community and what issues they wanted to see tackled – and for many, the answer was the quality of the road surfaces.
Since then, the Council says it has been ‘engaged’ in a long-running programme of improvement works throughout the borough.
Now, with just over a month of the summer season left, it has been confirmed that some vital resurfacing works are due to start over the coming weeks in north and central Manchester, bringing a range of improvements to key district roads along with it.
First up, from Saturday 9 August, Hollinwood Avenue is to be resurfaced.
The Council has published a list of Manchester roads that are set to be resurfaced this summer / Credit: MJ Richardson (via Geograph)
Anticipated to take six weeks to complete, this work will be carried out during weekend closures from 8am-5pm, with the road remaining open during the working week.
The closure area will be between Greengates Roundabout and the Oldham boundary at Owler Lane, and a signed diversion route will be in place while work is carried out, and access for residents will be maintained at all times.
Then, starting from Saturday 16 August, resurfacing works will begin on Moss Lane East, between Alexandra Road and Princess Road.
Work will take place between 7am and 5pm on weekdays, and 8am and 5pm on weekends, and during the works, the road will be completely closed – with a signed diversion route in place and access for residents maintained.
As always, disruption is expected and the public is encouraged to plan ahead / Credit: Mylo Kaye (via Unsplash)
These works are expected to take six weeks to complete, and as with all resurfacing projects, residents should expect some disruption and may need to plan ahead.
The Council is aiming to keep disruption to the public at a minimum, where possible.
“We know how important it is to our residents that key roads are well maintained, which is why were glad to be able to deliver this latest round of improvement works,” commented Councillor Tracey Rawlins, who is the Executive Member for Clean Air, Environment, and Transport at Manchester City Council.
“I’d like to thank people ahead of time for their patience during the course of these works and would advise them to check when closures will be in place and where the diversions are.”
You can find more information on the resurfacing works on the Council website here.
Emily Sergeant -
17th February 2022 
