Storm Eowyn’s severe winds cause British Airways flight to approach subsonic speeds

A British Airways flight from Las Vegas to London Heathrow approached subsonic speeds on Wednesday thanks to the unusually strong jet stream bringing Storm Eowyn to the UK and Ireland.

According to data gathered by Flightradar24, British Airways flight BA274 reached a ground speed of 814mph – just 21mph slower than the subsonic speed record of 835mph.

The Boeing 747 took advantage of the strong tailwind to reduce the flight time by approximately 45 minutes.

Elsewhere, flights from New York to London have been careering through the air in as little as five hours and 30 minutes as a consequence of the jet stream.

A jet stream is a wind that occurs around 30,000-40,000 feet, travelling from west to east across the Atlantic with speeds of about 190 to 200mph.

Storm Eowyn has resulted in jet stream winds in excess of 260mph over the east coast of the US, meaning records could be broken over the coming days.

Transatlantic passengers flying between the US and the UK can consequently expect significantly shorter travel times – and it’s a trend that isn’t going away any time soon.

“We have evidence that the strongest jet-stream winds are projected to speed up by about two per cent for every one degree Celsius of global warming”, Paul Williams, professor of meteorology at the University of Reading told BBC Weather.

“And of course we’ve already had over one degree of global warming, so there’s a bit of evidence that the jet stream has already started to speed up.”

While faster flight times may be welcomed by most passengers, this is set to coincide with an increase in turbulence.

“The projects are for a further increase – maybe a doubling or a trebling – of the amount of severe turbulence in large parts of the jet stream by, for example, the 2060s,” Professor Williams warned.

The news comes as Storm Eowyn has broken records in Ireland after 114mph winds hit the island, the fastest since records began, the Irish forecaster has said.

Gusts of 183kmph were recorded at Mace Head, County Galway, at 5am on Friday.

Rare red weather warnings are in place in Ireland and set to spread to Scotland at 10am, with residents urged to stay at home.