Storm Éowyn: Can you keep your child home from school when ‘danger to life’ weather warnings are in place?

• Storm Éowyn has reached the UK, with weather warnings in place for most parts of the country
• In some areas, schools, roads, and transport have been impacted by the extreme winds
• Even if your child’s school is open, you might be able to keep them home if you can’t get there safely

With trees and debris littering the streets and bridge and road closures, not wanting to risk the school run during a wind storm is understandable.

Storm Éowyn has reached the UK today, triggering Met Office weather warnings for extreme winds, including rare red weather warnings in parts of Northern Ireland and Scotland - the most serious kind. While the red warnings are largely expected to ease by the evening, others will linger on into Saturday.

The forecaster is warning people in the most vulnerable areas to expect flying debris “resulting in danger to life”, large waves, very dangerous driving conditions with fallen trees on roads, power cuts, damage to buildings and homes, and roads, bridges, and railway line closures. All of which can prove somewhat disruptive when it comes to leaving the house safely.

While all schools in Northern Ireland have closed and many others across parts of the UK are affected, sometimes the issue boils down to whether parents feel they can get their child to school safely. Here is the official guidance on when you can keep your child home:

What are rules around keeping your child home during bad weather?

While schools won’t usually close due to issues like hot or cold temperatures alone, there are a range of weather-related scenarios in which they might - in which case, you’ll need to keep your child home.

This often amounts to heavy snow, or icy or damaged roads making it unsafe for staff and students to get to school. But official guidance says that schools should have plans in place for if the weather causes issues like power outages or significant damage to the buildings. These plans might also include a temporary closure.

Sometimes your child’s school will still be open even when the weather gets dicey, in which case things get a little more tricky. But ultimately, it comes down to you and your child’s safety.

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The Department for Education wrote in a blog post a few days before Storm Éowyn hit that in exceptional circumstances, a pupil may be unable to attend school if a local or national emergency has resulted in widespread disruption to travel. “If parents believe it would be unsafe to travel, they should inform the school as soon as possible to let them know their child won't be attending and why,” they wrote.

Parents are advised to try and do this in line with the school’s absence policy, and in most cases it will be considered an authorised absence. If you work - even if you can get their safely - you will have the legal right to take unpaid time off work to care for your child during an unexpected emergency.

To find out more about the storm, you can check out some of our other coverage. If you’d like to find out about your rights for emergency time off work in extreme weather, click here. If you’d like to find out how to check school closures in England or Wales, try this one.