GALE-FORCE winds and bands of rain are set to bring travel disruption later this week, with the potential for the first “named storm” of the season to coincide with the start of the half-term holiday.
DFDS has cancelled some services tomorrow to Portsmouth and St Malo, with sailings between Thursday and Sunday under review.
Dave Rigby, senior forecaster at Jersey Met, said that while there was still some uncertainty about the exact path of the weather front due to arrive on Thursday evening, it was likely to have an impact.
“The winds are set to veer from southerly to westerly as we move into Friday and strengthen to gale force 8, or possibly stronger, and there’ll be bands of rain for most of the week which will accumulate to quite a large total,” he said.
Islanders are urged to keep an eye on the latest Jersey Met forecast as the week goes on.
Should the UK Met Office or Ireland’s Met Éireann issue warnings at an amber level or higher, Storm Austen will be become the first named weather event of 2026/27.
Chris Parker, DFDS route director for Jersey, said: “Strong winds are forecast across the Channel Islands this week and, unfortunately, some disruption to ferry services is unavoidable.
“We appreciate how frustrating this can be for passengers, particularly during the school holidays, and our teams are doing everything possible to minimise the impact.
“We are planning additional sailings and adjusting schedules wherever conditions allow – safety must always come first, but we will do everything we reasonably can to keep passengers and freight moving.”
An additional high-speed return sailing between Jersey and St Malo has been scheduled for Monday, as well as an extra Stena Vinga sailing on the Portsmouth route on Sunday.
