Two men dead and thousands without power after two storms in three days

Two men have died and thousands of properties are without power after two storms in three days.

A man in his 20s was pronounced dead after a tree fell onto a moving car in north London, the Metropolitan Police said.

Police were called to Dollis Road in Finchley at 12.40pm on Sunday, where the man driving the car was pronounced dead at the scene.

Chief Inspector Guy Ellwood, from the north-west command unit, said: “This is a deeply tragic incident and our thoughts are with the loved ones of the young man who lost his life.

“We will now work with the local authority and coroner to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident.”

London Ambulance Service sent ambulance crews, incident response officers and paramedics from its hazardous area response team and a trauma team from London’s Air Ambulance.

On Sunday, a 60-year-old man died after he was hit by a falling tree in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland, at about 10.30am.

Two women were also taken to hospital after they were struck by another falling tree in Aberfeldy, Perth and Kinross.

Storm Boelo pummelled the north of the UK, bringing 84mph gusts and a third of a month’s rain to pockets of Scotland.

Power cuts hit 838,700 properties during Boelo and its predecessor by hours, Storm Austen.

By 7pm on Sunday, 90,600 customers were still without power, said the Energy Networks Association, which represents operators in the UK and Ireland.

The clean up comes as a fresh yellow warning for wind has been issued by the Met Office, from 6pm on Monday until 3am on Tuesday.

The warning – covering parts of north-west England, Northern Ireland, south-west England, Strathclyde, south-west Scotland and Wales – forecasts gusts of 45-50mph inland and 60-65 mph along exposed coasts and over high ground.

It adds that the strong winds will be accompanied by heavy rain at times, and there could be some disruption.

Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney met senior politicians, emergency teams and forecasters on Sunday to discuss the ongoing response to the weather, amid warnings that similar conditions will return early this week.

After the meeting, Stuart Wilson, of Transport Scotland, said “significant recovery work” is required before the network returns to normal.

Meanwhile, Scottish Social Justice and Housing Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “While we expect some respite from the adverse weather during the day on Monday, there is a possibility of more severe weather conditions early on in the week and we urge everyone to continue to follow advice and heed any warnings.”

Flood water on the A8 in Port Glasgow, Inverclyde, after Storm Boelo passed through the area (Jane Barlow/PA)

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A yellow Met Office warning for strong winds and potentially damaging gusts is in place from 3am on Tuesday to midnight for the far north of England, Scotland, and the far north-east of Northern Ireland.

Footage showed floodwater coursing around the town of Largs, North Ayrshire, on Sunday.

Staff at its Thai restaurant Tha-Tien-Thai shared a video of their kitchen overrun by water with the caption: “There is nothing left.”

It closed its doors for the foreseeable future “due to larger flood restoration than originally planned”.

Dangerous buildings in Ayr, south-west Scotland, were evacuated by police, as well as a caravan park in Ballantrae, around 33 miles away.

Emergency services were called to a flooded care home in Sidney Street, Saltcoats, North Ayrshire, on Sunday evening.

Police Scotland said everyone at the care home was accounted for, local road closures were in place and officers were expected to remain on site overnight to assist.

Some flights were diverted from landing at Leeds Bradford Airport and others were cancelled.

On Sunday evening, Northern Powergrid, which distributes electricity across Yorkshire and the North East, said 13,000 customers in the region were expected to be without power beyond Sunday night.

The energy company added electricity had already been restored to 102,000 customers.

A downed tree in Gladstone Park, north-west London (Martin Evans/PA)

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Train journeys were also disrupted. Network Rail Scotland shared an image of flooding from the tracks to the platform in one Glasgow station and fallen trees above the lines near another.

Speed restrictions were in place across Scotland and several sections of its railways closed, the operator added.

It came after Network Rail posted photographs of a trampoline beneath a train and a shed by the tracks, in a call for those living near rail lines to firmly secure their garden furniture.

Collapsed trees, cables on carriageways, strong winds and damaged surfaces prompted closures to major roads in Scotland.

Storm Boelo followed Storm Austen, which brought strong winds to southern parts of the UK on Friday.

Gusts of 76mph were recorded at St Mary’s Airport in the Isles of Scilly, with 74mph at Aberporth in South Wales and 71mph at Culdrose in Cornwall.

Met Office meteorologist Craig Snell said it is hard to compare storm to storm because they affect different areas and “if a branch falls on your car in one, then you’re probably going to feel like that one was the worst storm ever”.

A fishing boat is stranded at Irvine Harbour in Ayrshire after coming loose from its moorings when Storm Boelo passed through the area (Jane Barlow/PA)

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Storm Amy brought a gust of about 92mph and more than 100ml of rain to similar parts of the UK last year, which appears more severe than these two, he pointed out.

Storms often happen in quick succession, Mr Snell said, adding that Bert, Conall and Darragh appeared in about one week in 2024.

“If the atmosphere is ripe for storm, it tends to mean it’s ripe for a couple of storms, so it is a fairly common thing,” he said.

The looming low pressure system does not appear as potent as Austen and Boelo.

There were no current plans to name it as of Sunday afternoon but it will bring further wet and windy weather, Mr Snell said.

The country can expect a return to more dry and settled conditions after that, he added.

The Environment Agency early on Monday issued 10 warnings that flooding is expected and 65 alerts where it is possible.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency said 10 flood warnings and 11 flood alerts were in place, while Natural Resources Wales reported nine flood alerts were active at the same time.