Residents urged to stay at home as London has its first ever red warning

London and the surrounding area have a red warning in place between 10:00 and 15:00 on Friday, 18 February (Pic-Met Office)

The Mayor of London has urged residents to stay in their homes as the capital braces for its first ever red weather warning. 

Rail companies are also warning people not to travel as operators up and down the country cancel a large number of services because of the impact of Storm Eunice. 

The red weather warning for wind comes into effect for London from 10:00 and is expecting to stay in place until 15:00. 

The area is then expected to move back on to an amber weather warning. 

Met Office meteorologist Alex Deakin says it is the first time that London has had a red weather warning.

A red weather warning means that their is a danger to life due to flying debris.

It is thought that there could be gusts of winds between 60-70mph inland. 

The Met Office are also warning of potential power cuts affecting other services, such as mobile phone coverage.

Havering Council have announced that the Romford Market will not be open and parks within the borough will also be closed. 

The QE2 bridge is also closed due to the high winds.

Security minister Damian Hinds has confirmed that there will be a meeting of COBRA at Whitehall today to discuss the storm and the response needed.

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