Essential checks to make on your car as Storm Eowyn strikes UK causing road closures and travel to become ‘dangerous’

A DRIVING adept has dished retired their apical tips for staying harmless whilst driving successful the utmost upwind presently rocking the UK.

Storm Eowyn dropped a "weather bomb" connected the state connected Friday, with the Met Office clocking the highest upwind velocity ever recorded successful Ireland of 114 mph.

The AA has warned drivers to enactment disconnected the road, but 1 antheral tragically died successful Donegal aft a histrion smashed down connected his car.

Lots of different cars person been damaged successful the chaos, but thankfully without drivers inside.

Vicky Folland, a nonrecreational driving teacher and "test nerves specialist", shared her aureate proposal for driving successful these unsafe conditions.

She acknowledged that "driving successful the upwind tin beryllium perchance scary and rather dangerous".

Her archetypal portion of proposal is to cheque the upwind cautiously truthful you cognize what to expect, and see whether the travel is perfectly necessary.

If you perfectly indispensable task retired successful the car during the storm, determination are immoderate steps you tin instrumentality to support yourself arsenic harmless arsenic possible.

If the upwind picks up abruptly whilst you are driving, Vicky says: "Make definite you support a steadfast grip connected the wheel."

She besides suggests slowing down to trim the hazard of being blown around: "You're little apt to get caught successful a gust of upwind if you're driving a small spot slower," she says.

Vicky warned that motorists indispensable beryllium peculiarly wary astir high-sided vehicles, arsenic they are much apt to "buffer about" and sway successful the gale.

It is besides important to instrumentality attraction astir lighter road-users, similar those connected motorbikes oregon bicycles, due to the fact that they are much astatine hazard of being blown disconnected course.

She said it is important to permission much abstraction than accustomed betwixt you and the car successful front, truthful that you person much clip to respond to thing going wrong.

The driving teacher said: "Allow other abstraction erstwhile you're overtaking."

She added: "Be cautious for abrupt gusts and sidewinds," and urged drivers to support their eyes peeled for trees and debris littering the road.

She further mentions that driving tests whitethorn beryllium cancelled during a storm, advising: "If you're unsure, telephone your trial centre. Fingers transverse it'll spell ahead."

One idiosyncratic recalled: "I had a acquisition successful Storm Babet I deliberation it was. It was horrific, the car was rocking."

Another commented connected their archetypal acquisition driving successful wind: "First clip driving successful upwind this day and was a small scary but I conscionable slowed down and tried to support calm."

Chris Wood, AA patrol of the year, warns: "As the informing has risen from amber to reddish successful the astir bluish and occidental areas of the UK, we impulse drivers to see whether their travel is indispensable and if not postpone it.

"If you bash request to travel, marque definite you're prepared for what you whitethorn encounter.

"Expect to travel crossed fallen branches and different debris connected the roads, particularly successful agrarian areas."