Red weather warning issued for coastal overtopping

A red weather warning has been issued for the Isle of Man for large waves crashing onto coastal roads.

It is in place for coastal overtopping from 22:00 until 01:00 GMT on Tuesday.

A red warning is rare and means extreme conditions are likely, with a risk to life, as well as possible widespread damage, travel disruption and interruptions to power and communications.

The government has asked people to take the "warning seriously and avoid affected coastal areas."

Senior Meteological Officer at Ronaldsway Met Office, Kirsty Wilding said: "Having received updated computer model data overnight, as well as recording what height the tide was last night, the confidence has increased for tonight's high tide."

Wildling said coastal overtopping is essentially the breaking of large waves over the sea walls onto exposed coastal roads and promenades.

"It results in large amounts of sea water being brought onshore as well as some debris, for example seaweed and stones - which can cause damage to cards or leave debris on roads when the tide recedes." she said.

She added the higher the tides and the waves, the greater the amount of sea water taken onshore which, she said "brings a greater risk to the public, as the power of the waves can knock people over."

Alongside the red warning, an amber one for inner harbor flooding has been issued by forecasters at Ronaldsway Met Office.

"Inner harbour flooding expected around the time of the high tide tonight, with a storm surge in the Irish Sea," it said.

The main areas affected will be:

Ramsey

• West Quay,
• East Quay,
• Parliament Street,
• Dale Street,
• Shipyard Road and
• The banks of River Sulby to Gardener's Lane.

Douglas

• Eastern end of North Quay,
• Old Castletown Road and
• Lake Road.

The Met Office said flood defences should also be deployed for the lowest-lying parts of Castletown Harbour.

In addition, a yellow warning for severe gales will come into force from 18:00 until 06:00 on Tuesday.

Gusts between 50-60 mph (80-96 km/h) are expected widely with up to 65mph (104 km/h) forecast for higher ground exposed coastal areas.

"This may result in fallen branches/ trees and disruption to travel," forecasters said.

The Liverpool crossing, which was scheduled for 15:00, left Douglas Harbour earlier at 06:00.

While both Manannan Larne sailings were cancelled.

At Ronaldsway Airport, all scheduled flights are going ahead as planned however, the airport have asked for passengers to arrive two hours early due to the number of disrupted flights taking off today.

Over the weekend, Storm Boelo kept teams from the Department of Infrastrucutre busy.

The DOI said crews dealt with 85 fallen trees, 31 flooding incidents, and more than 25 other storm-related call-outs.

Sailings and flights to and from the island were also cancelled.

Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.