London and Kent have been told to take extra care as the area has been placed under a ‘red warning’ by the Met Office due to Storm Eunice. The red warning is the highest level of danger and people have been told to avoid travel today.
The storm is expected to hit Kent between 10am and 3pm today, with winds up to 80mph expected. There is a danger of damage to buildings and of flying debris.
The Met Office are saying this is the worst storm to hit the UK in 32 years, which would take us all back to 1990. This is rather strange as the ‘big storm’ that most people remember is the 1987 one!
An interesting fact, according to Google, is that the most famous person called ‘Eunice’ is actually Nina Simone! It definitely isn’t Eunice Joyce or Eunice Huthart.
Children are also said to be disappointed as there will be no extra school closures today, as schools are already shut for half-term.
So far, the impact to Kent is minimal with only traffic congestion around Dartford due to the QE2 bridge being closed. All Dover to Calais ferry crossings are now cancelled until further notice.
The Tilbury Ferry service which runs from the Town Pier in Gravesend is not running today due to the winds, which means that anyone stuck on the wrong side of the river has a very long walk journey ahead of them.
There was also reports of a bin on its side near Maidstone, but thankfully no-one has been hurt. The fire brigade have not been called so far.
In a final cruel twist, just yesterday another tree has been planted by The Duke of Kent at the University of Surrey. (ok, its not Kent but just go with it!). This is part of an initiative to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022, by inviting people to “Plant a Tree for the Jubilee”.
It just seems a shame that the ‘small twig’ was planted just a day before the big storm – does nobody check the weather these days. Hopefully, the little tree will survive the impending winds.
The Queen joined The Prince of Wales for the first Jubilee tree planting in the grounds of Windsor Castle in Spring 2021, during the tree planting season, to mark the launch of the initiative – they could have bought a lot more trees with £12million.
