Storm Babet batters England as woman dies and thousands left without power in Scotland
Storm Babet[1] will continue to batter parts of the UK on Friday, with several severe weather[2] warnings still in effect after a woman died when she was swept into a river in Scotland[3]. Amber warnings for wind and rain have been issued by the Met Office[4] for parts of northern England, the Midlands and northern Wales from noon on Friday until 6am on Saturday, while there is a yellow warning for Northern Ireland in place from 3am on Friday to 9am on Saturday. Yellow and amber wind warnings have also been issued for eastern parts of Scotland and along the east coast of England until the weekend, the Met Office said.
As a result, disruptions to transport services[5] in Scotland, parts of the north, east and west of England, the Midlands and north Wales are set to continue on Friday and potentially into the weekend. A rare red weather warning[6] was put in place from 6pm on Thursday until midday on Friday. It was expanded to include Dundee, Perth and Kinross, as well as Angus and Aberdeenshire.
It comes as Police Scotland confirmed the body of the 57-year-old woman had been recovered from Water of Lee at Glen Esk, and urged people not to travel into or within red warning areas. The woman died after being swept into a river in Angus on Thursday afternoon, amid the evacuation of more than 400 homes in the Scottish region.
?? Further rain continuing in eastern Scotland through Friday morning with heavy rain sweeping across northern and eastern England, north Wales and Northern Ireland
?? Very strong to gale force easterly winds ?
Drier and brighter to start in the south pic.twitter.com/OnlEofRQM7[7]
-- Met Office (@metoffice) October 19, 2023[8]Fire crews and the coastguard began knocking on residents' doors in Brechin, Angus[9], on Thursday, advising them to leave the area. Angus Council - responsible for a large area in the east of Scotland north of Dundee - said residents in 335 homes in Brechin and a further 87 homes in Tannadice and Finavon would be asked to evacuate due to risk of severe flooding. It warned river levels in the town could reach five metres higher than normal, having already swelled to unprecedented levels and breached Brechin's flood defences early on Friday morning.
The Council said schools would remain shut on Friday to "ensure the safety of children, young people, parents, and school staff". Battered by heavy rain and winds around 70mph, some 20,000 properties in the region were hit by power cuts, although Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said electricity had been restored to 14,000.
Waves crash over Stonehaven harbour on the east coast of Scotland as wind and rain from Storm Babet cause travel chaos (Photo: Andy Buchanan / AFP)Brechin and Edzell councillor, Jill Scott, called the situation "horrific", adding that people were trapped in closes and upstairs floors of buildings. "The boats are trying to get to them.
They can't get to them because the current is too strong," she said. "There will be hundreds of houses flooded." Ms Scott said one family contacted her around 5am after having to leave their flooded ground floor flat, leaving them trapped in an upstairs hallway and currently unable to be rescued due to the force of the floodwater
"It unbelievable. It's devastating. I don't know what the council's going to do to be honest - how many people they are going to have to rehome," she added.
"People will have lost everything." Four flood warnings have been issued by the Environment Agency's Floodline service in Sandsend, North Yorkshire; Bridlington, East Yorkshire; the Tyne estuary and in areas surrounding the River Maun in Nottinghamshire. The agency also has 79 flood alerts in effect across the rest of England, while severe flood warnings[10] were expanded for the River Esk in Scotland, including into Aberdeenshire.
According to the Met Office, severe flooding could cut off some communities for several days, while the British Geological Survey has warned the storm could cause landslides in Scotland.
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Gusts in excess of 60mph are likely on Friday, with particularly poor conditions on immediate coastlines where large waves add to the list of hazards. Paddleboarding instructor David Jacobs, 56, said he had seen waves around 20ft high in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, and expects it to be worse on Friday. He added that he was concerned for passers-by who stopped to watch the waves, as they could be hit by debris or swept into the sea.
Mr Jacobs said: "The wind is swinging east tomorrow so it will be coming directly into the harbour. "The last time I have seen weather like this was 2014, it is quite spectacular to watch but bits of trees and rocks land onto the road. It worries me for other people."
Andrew Batchelor, who runs Dundee Culture - a platform which showcases the achievements, culture and heritage of Dundee - told the PA news agency his car was hit by a branch on his way home from Edinburgh Airport. "We just arrived home from Ibiza and the flight was delayed due to operational problems and of course the weather," said the 23-year-old Dundee resident. "When we were heading towards Perth, a branch struck our car - fortunately nothing was damaged but you could hear the wind and rain banging on the car as we headed home."
A fallen tree in Brechin. The UK is bracing for heavy wind and rain from Storm Babet, the second named storm of the season (Photo: Andrew Milligan / PA)Storm Babet hit Ireland on Wednesday after sweeping in from the Atlantic, bringing with it heavy rainfall and causing extensive flooding in parts of the country.
Members of the Irish Defence Forces were deployed in the town of Midleton, Co Cork, in the south of Ireland, where more than 100 properties were flooded. Ireland's Minister for Finance, Michael McGrath, has said a proposal is being worked on to increase the level of support, via the Red Cross administered Emergency Humanitarian Aid Scheme, that will be offered to those affected by flooding in Co Cork "from next week". This currently offers an initial 5,000 euro and further support up to 20,000 euro based on the scale of damage.
Cork County Council said more than a month's worth of rain had fallen in the space of 24 hours, leading to unprecedented flooding, saturated land and high river levels across the county.
How is Storm Babet affecting travel?
ScotRail said train services[11] remain suspended on several routes in north and north-east Scotland, while Traffic Scotland[12] has said several sections of major Scottish roads were closed due to Storm Babet.
Meanwhile, diversion routes have been created after the A15 Humber Bridge between North Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire was closed in both directions to "high-sided and vulnerable vehicles" due to strong winds.
National Rail Enquiries said several railway[13] routes in north-west England and north Wales were closed due to flooding, with varying degrees of disruption to services due to severe weather in north-east England, Yorkshire and the Midlands also reported.
References
- ^ Storm Babet (inews.co.uk)
- ^ weather (inews.co.uk)
- ^ a woman died when she was swept into a river in Scotland (inews.co.uk)
- ^ Met Office (inews.co.uk)
- ^ disruptions to transport services (inews.co.uk)
- ^ rare red weather warning (inews.co.uk)
- ^ pic.twitter.com/OnlEofRQM7 (t.co)
- ^ October 19, 2023 (twitter.com)
- ^ began knocking on residents' doors in Brechin, Angus (inews.co.uk)
- ^ severe flood warnings (twitter.com)
- ^ train services (www.travelinescotland.com)
- ^ Traffic Scotland (www.traffic.gov.scot)
- ^ railway (www.thetrainline.com)