Royal Mail has urged customers across England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland to expect significant delays due to Storm Eowyn.

It comes after the Met Office issued Red and Amber weather warnings for Friday, 24 January, to Saturday, 25 January 2025. Chief Meteorologist Paul Gundersen forecasts very windy conditions on Friday, including rain and snow hazards.

He said: “The strongest winds and most significant impacts are likely in Northern Ireland and central and southwestern parts of Scotland within the Red Warning areas, where winds could gust 80-90 mph quite widely for a time, and potentially up to 100 mph for exposed coasts in particular.”

The storm will create dangerous conditions outdoors with widespread disruption, and significant impacts are expected, including those of Royal Mail services.

As a result, the postal service said it “may temporarily suspend all outdoor activities” for the duration of the warning to acknowledge the “risk to life” caution that comes with it.

Which postcodes are affected?

Royal Mail customers hoping to send or receive post in 11 UK regions will face severe disruption today.

The Met Office Red warning due to very strong winds covers parts of the following areas between 10am and 5pm on Friday, 24 January 2025:

• Central Tayside and Fife (EH, FK and KY)
• SW Scotland and Lothian Borders (DG, EH, KA, ML and TD)
• Strathclyde (FK, G, KA, ML and PA)

The Met Office Amber warning due to strong winds covers parts of the following areas between 6am and 9pm on Friday, January 24:

• Central, Tayside & Fife (DD, EH, FK, KY and PH)
• East Midlands (DE, LE, NG, S and SK)
• Grampian (AB and DD)
• Highlands & Eilean Siar (AB, IV, KW and PH)
• North East England (DH, DL, NE, SR, TD and TS)
• North West England (BB, BD, BL, CA, CH, FY, L, LA, M, OL, PR, SK, WA and WN)
• Northern Ireland (BT)
• SW Scotland, Lothian Borders (DG, EH, KA, ML and TD)
• Strathclyde (FK, G, KA, ML and PA)
• Wales (CH and LL)
• Yorkshire & Humber (BD, DL, DN, HD, HG, HX, LS, S, TS, WF and YO)

Additional Amber warnings due to strong winds have been issued in parts of the following areas between 1pm on Friday, January 24, and 6am on Saturday, January 25:

• Central, Tayside & Fife (DD, FK and PH)
• Grampian (AB, DD and IV)
• Highlands & Eilean Siar (AB, HS, IV, KW and PH)
• Orkney & Shetland (KW and ZE)
• Strathclyde (FK, G and PA)

Royal Mail said: “Whilst we will do all we can to keep our services operating as normally as possible in areas where it’s safe to do so, the impact of this warning is expected to cause severe disruption to mail delivery, collection and distribution across the country. The safety of our people is paramount, and services will be reviewed throughout the day.”

Further disruption in local delivery offices may delay the arrival of packages and parcels expected in Dudley, Manchester, Sale and Leicester today.

The full list of postcodes affected are:

• Dudley DO (DY1, DY2 and DY3)
• Leicester East DO (LE2, LE5 and LE7)
• Manchester South DO (M14 and M20)
• Manchester South East DO (M11, M12, M13 and M18)
• Manchester South West DO (M15, M16 and M32)
• Sale DO (M33)
• Sleaford DO (NG34)