Thousands of homes without power as Storm Austen hits south-west England

Dozens of schools in Cornwall also affected as another storm heads for Scotland, Northern Ireland and the north of England

Thousands of homes are without power and schools were closed as the first named storm of the year hit UK shores.

Storm Austen brought severe conditions to parts of the south-west, with a gust of 76mph recorded at St Mary’s airport on the Isles of Scilly on Friday morning. Just before 11am, more than 16,000 homes in the south-west were without power

Dozens of schools across Cornwall were forced to open late, while others did not open at all. Flights were disrupted at airports in the south-west and on the Channel Islands, and passengers were being advised to check the status of their flight before travelling.

Guernsey airport’s duty manager, Steve Ford, confirmed that normal service was not expected to resume before Saturday morning, with most of the fleet having been stranded on the UK mainland. The Dutch flag carrier, KLM, cancelled dozens of its scheduled flights for Friday and Saturday.

Images showed part of Brighton’s West Pier falling into the sea after it was battered by wind and waves. The pier, first opened in 1866, has grown increasingly derelict since it closed to the public in 1975, with storms and fires destroying much of what remained. English Heritage has previously declared the structure beyond repair.

National Rail reported severe disruption across the rail network, with cancellations across England, Wales and Scotland.

Forecasters have put an additional amber weather warning for wind in place from Saturday into Sunday as the second named storm of the year, Boelo, heads in.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, the prime minister, Andy Burnham, said: “We potentially are facing a winter of greater flooding, so it’s about recognising all of those risks and taking action.”

A government campaign aimed at urging people to stock supplies of food and essentials in case of multi-day emergencies made headlines overnight. Burnham was asked whether the government was playing catch-up with civil preparedness as he attended a summit organised to learn from the summer’s record wildfires.

He answered: “No. We are having the conversation with people about being better prepared because we’re living in a world where unexpected events seem to be becoming more and more common.

“We’re in a situation today where the UK is facing storms, and obviously we feel for the people without power in Cornwall right now. It is just having those supplies in the house to get you through those moments [and] we are having that conversation about resilience. That’s why we’re holding this summit today, it’s why we’re putting the guidance out to the public.”

National Grid said engineers had restored power to more than 12,000 properties affected by Storm Austen by 8am on Friday.

A Met Office amber warning for wind covering Cornwall, Devon and the Isles of Scilly was issued on Wednesday, taking effect on Friday from 1am until 10am.

The Met Office has now issued a 24-hour amber warning for wind from Storm Boelo from 9pm on Saturday, covering Scotland, the north coast of Northern Ireland, and Cumbria and Northumberland in the north of England.

The forecaster said gusts of up to 80mph could hit exposed coastal areas, with winds of 60-70mph widespread elsewhere, and it warned of danger to life from flying debris.

It said there was also a “good chance” of power cuts, damage to buildings, trees being uprooted and rail and flight cancellations.

The Republic of Ireland’s weather agency, Met Éireann, issued six warnings of varying severity for Saturday, mostly affecting counties along the west coast.

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Source: www.theguardian.com