Red alert in the UK for hurricane force winds from Storm Eunice

Storm Eunice, the biggest storm in more than 30 years in the United Kingdom, has forced a "red alert" to be decreed in the south of the country.

Hurricane winds of up to 122 miles per hour on the Isle of Wight (

) set a record high and forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights and forced the temporary suspension of "ferries" in the English Channel and of trains in the south of England.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson convened a Cobra emergency cabinet and

, while millions of Britons were told to stay home and avoid "life-threatening" situations.

The Met Office warned that Eunice could have an effect as devastating as the Great Storm of 1987 that claimed 18 lives.

Eunice hit the British Isles early on Friday, taking over from Storm Dudley, which wreaked havoc mid-week and

in northern England.

The most affected area this time was the south of England, from Cornwall to London, which was added to the "red alert" at the last minute.

More than 80 incoming and outgoing flights were suspended at Heathrow and Gatwick and City Airport suspended operations for several hours.

The port of Dover closed for passenger services at 10 a.m. and train transport was suspended in much of the south of the country.

On the coasts of Devon, on the Isle of Wight and in South Wales there were

the alert was decreed due to the risk of flooding.

Storm Eunice was accompanied by a particularly destructive phenomenon detected in 30% of storms in the North Atlantic: the "sting jet" or "

", which causes exceptionally intense winds.

Shaped like a scorpion's tail (hence the name), the "spout" usually forms on the south side of storms and descends over very specific areas.

The phenomenon was discovered by scientists from the University of Reading, from the Great Storm of 1987 that shook the British Isles and with which Storm Eunice has been compared.

"We are facing a storm that can cause the greatest impact in decades," warned Frank Saunders, of the Met Office, which issued a long dozen flood alerts.

Hundreds of Britons, however, defied the red alert and went to places like Tower Beach, in Newquay, to

"Do not risk your life for a selfie", was the warning launched by the Cornish Coastguard services.

So far there has been no news of injuries or fatalities, nor of material damage by Eunice.

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