Local storm watch information

This page is archived as a record of life in Petersfield during Storm Ciarán, November 2023

Warnings in force for our area

Thursday until 1700: a yellow warning of wind

Thursday until midnight: a yellow warning of rain.

The Met Office has now downgraded the wind warning for our area from Amber to Yellow.

This means strong and potentially disruptive winds associated with Storm Ciarán are still possible until late afternoon.

Meteorologists predict the strongest winds her will be in the mid-afternoon. They’ll be blowing from the west.

The heaviest rainfall in Petersfield is predicted to be around lunchtime and into the early afternoon.

You can see a variety of weather indicators for our area at https://shineradio.uk/weather

Local services

The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Local Resilience Forum tells us it is operating at ‘Major Incident’ status.

Bins

East Hampshire District Council is aiming to provide a normal bin collection today. Many homes in Petersfield have bin collections on a Thursday and the crews are getting around the town.

Power

SSEN says many customers in and around East Meon are back on the power system now. More than 200 premises were affected but as of midday that’s down to just 36.

Homes in and around Alderfield in Petersfield had a power cut this morning. That’s been fixed now.

Engineers are on site between Nursted and South Harting to reconnect premises there. That’s affecting the Tithe Barn and the Alitex site.

And they’re also working in Froxfield to reconnect a small number of customers.

The earlier fault affecting Warren Road and Forest Road in Liss is now fixed.

The power distribution company has a special web page at ssen.co.uk/storm

Rivers

The Environment Agency has issued a flood alert for the Western Rother between Liss and Hardham.

Petersfield received 30mm of rain in the last 24 hours.

They say it’s possible but not expected that overflowing rivers will cause properties and roads to flood. After tomorrow the risk of flooding falls significantly.

River levels in Petersfield are currently within normal limits. Here’s live data from Borough Grove:

Roads

Drayton Road near East Meon is closed.

Road users in the South East region of England are advised to check ahead and plan for disruption to their journeys.

You can report problems with road maintenance to Hampshire County Council on this website.

Buses

The 67 bus service is not running to East Meon and West Meon. That’s because Drayton Road is closed. The bus is taking the main A272 instead,

Trains

South Western Rail services through Petersfield have major disruption today with many services delayed by up to 25 minutes.

You can see the live departure board information at https://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/ldbboard/dep/PTR

The trains company says if you do decide to travel, please check before you travel and allow extra time for your journey.

If you have a ticket for today, you will be able to use it tomorrow or you may be able to claim a refund, depending on the type of ticket you purchased. See https://www.southwesternrailway.com/contact-and-help/train-ticket-refunds

The Sea

High tide in Portsmouth is at 1402 this afternoon. It’s a 4.5 metre tide.

Sea levels are less extreme that at the weekend thanks to the waning gibbous moon.

Tide times for Portsmouth

Wightlink ferry services remain unaffected but it’s very choppy out there.

Schools

East Meon Primary School and Hollywater community special school are closed today.

Fireworks

One local firework event has been cancelled. Organisers of the Rother Barn Tree Farm event in Liss tell us they could not have been prepared for this and have never seen the site under water. If you’ve bought a ticket already they’ll organise a refund, they say.