Thousands without power after Austen batters UK as second storm nears

Thousands of homes are without power in south-west England after Storm Austen hit the region, as the north braces for a second storm.

Strong winds and heavy, frequent showers are set to batter northern parts of the UK with gusts potentially exceeding 80mph.

An amber weather warning, the Met Office’s second most severe, is active across Scotland, the north of England down to Carlisle and the north-east of Northern Ireland from 9pm Saturday to the same time on Sunday.

Storm Boelo, the second name storm of the season, will bring a danger to life from flying debris and crashing waves and people should stay indoors as much as possible, the forecaster said.

Meanwhile, a large yellow warning for very wet and windy weather stretches across the whole of the UK’s north from midday to 9pm on Saturday.

Widespread travel disruption is expected to ferries and trains with TransPennine Express warning against all but essential train journeys on Saturday and Sunday, while Avanti West Coast strongly advised users not to travel north of Preston on Sunday.

Storm Boelo follows Storm Austen which hit the South West on Friday.

People walking in the rain on Westminster Bridge in London on Friday (Yui Mok/PA)

PA Wire

More than 3,700 homes in the region were without electricity on Saturday morning, according to the National Grid map.

This came after the electricity company on Friday night confirmed that engineers had restored power to more than 60,000 homes since the storm began.

The Met Office said the power cuts could potentially be replicated across the amber areas in the north this weekend.

(PA Graphics)

PA Graphics

The day will start with dry weather for many on Saturday but a high pressure system moving in means heavy rain will quickly sweep the whole country.

Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said: “There’s more stormy weather to come as we go through this weekend, especially across northern parts – that’s where we’re going to see the strongest winds.

“Storm Boelo is arriving. It’s going to bring widespread rain and some very strong winds indeed, and it’s quick on the tails of Storm Austen which is now clearing away towards the east.”

He added: “All of us will see some fairly persistent rain particularly as we go through the afternoon.

“In the west it’s going to be fairly heavy, some high totals which could lead to a bit of flooding in places, and nonetheless there will be some significant spray on the roads.

“It’s the winds that were perhaps most concerned about, they’re really going to whip up some strong gusty winds across Northern Ireland, northern parts of England and also Scotland through the day – strengthening as we head towards the evening.”

Storm Boelo’s winds will peak from Saturday evening.

London’s annual Diwali on the Square celebrations this Sunday were cancelled on independent health and safety experts’ recommendation in light of the storm.

Temperatures will be a little more than the seasonal average but “obviously with the wind and rain it’s going to feel pretty unpleasant out there”, Mr Burkill added.

“A very, well, different side of autumn compared with what we’ve seen through much of the season so far.”

The wet weather will clear overnight for many while more rain hits Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Rainfall totals will build up in those areas and may reach more than 100mm in a day on higher ground in Scotland.

Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan previously said “we do need the rain desperately”, particularly in the south of the UK which faced the brunt of the “severe drought” this summer.

Human-driven climate change disrupts rainfall patterns and drives more extreme weather events, which the UK also experienced this summer through successive record heatwaves.

The Prime Minister warned on Friday that the UK could face “a winter of greater flooding” and said we are living in a world where “unexpected events” are “more and more common”.

Andy Burnham denied the suggestion that the Government is playing catch-up with civil preparedness as he attended a summit organised to learn from the summer’s record wildfires.

He said: “We potentially are facing a winter of greater flooding, so it’s about recognising all of those risks and taking action.”

At one stage on Friday in the South West, 31,000 homes were without power, planes had been cancelled and part of the historic West Pier in Brighton collapsed into the sea.