Red weather warning in place for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight

Storm Eunice remains a major incident for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Resilience Forum, after the Met Office upgraded its weather warning.

Extremely strong winds with gusts of up to 80 miles per hour are expected across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight today (Friday 18 February).

The Met Office have issued a red weather warning from 10am until 3pm, with the expectation of significant disruption and dangerous conditions.

The Environment Agency have also issued flood warnings and alerts in coastal areas.

The storm was declared a major incident in the two counties last night, and that status remains today.

Emergency services, local authorities, National Highways and other voluntary and statutory agencies are all on stand-by to put well-rehearsed plans into place.

Key advice includes:

• Do not travel unless absolutely necessary. If you do need to go on the roads, give yourself extra time and drive carefully

• Keep up to date with the latest forecast and bulletins from travel operators

• Avoid coastal areas due to anticipated large waves and spray, take note of warning signs and be aware of the tides

• Follow the latest information from relevant agencies for the latest on any flooding, power cuts, school closures and travel disruption

• In an emergency where there is an immediate risk to life, call 999

You can sign up for free flood warnings and can keep up to date with the latest situation at https://www.gov.uk/check-flood-risk, call Floodline on 0345 988 1188 or follow @EnvAgency on Twitter for the latest flood updates.

You can report trees fallen into a major road to National Highways and on local roads to your local authority.

To report a power cut, you can call the 105 number, which will take you to your local electricity network operator.