SOUTHAMPTON residents are being urged to stay at home with Storm Eunice set to batter Southampton today. 

An amber weather warning has been issued with high-speed winds expected to sweep across the region. This was changed to red overnight.

The Met Office issued an initial yellow alert, saying that gales of up to 100mph could be possible along the south coast.

The iconic Itchen Bridge has been closed this morning due to weather experts warning of the imminent risk of potential injury or danger to life posed by the storm.

A number of schools across the city have also been closed, and bin collections are cancelled.

Meanwhile, Red Funnel has warned of possible cancellations due to the strong winds.

Southampton City Council leader Dan Fitzhenry has urged people to stay at home.
He said: “We’ve got a wide range of plans put in place. We have cancelled bin collections across the city. So we would ask residents don’t put their bins out. We are planning on catching up on Saturday. 

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"We’ve cancelled all of the road repairs and routine parks/open spaces maintenance so all our teams are mobile and ready to react to fallen trees or issues across the city. 
“Our general advice to people is: If you do need to travel, do so very carefully but if you don’t, stay at home.”

Speaking on BBC Radio Solent he added: “Ultimately what we are trying to do is mitigate the amount of things that could go wrong so we can try and keep as many people as safe as possible.”

The council says the decision to cancel collection rounds has been made to “safeguard the public and staff members from the risk of flying debris, falling trees and branches” and the “dangers of loading and unloading bins from the lifting mechanisms of waste vehicles in very strong winds”.

Tanners Brook Primary School, Thornhill Primary School, Burgate School, The Hamble School and Sixth Form will all be closed today.

A flood alert has also been issued for Southampton’s River Itchen and River Leam.
Hampshire County Council has confirmed the closure of all the council-run country parks, while Marwell Zoo near Winchester will shut.

Southampton’s city centre market has been suspended for the weekend and the Itchen Valley Parkrun event has also been cancelled.