Road closures, power cuts and yellow weather warning as Storm Bert hits

Hundreds are without power, roads have been closed and rail passengers have been advised to expect slower services as Storm Bert hits the South West.

A yellow weather warning for wind covering the entire West Country has been issued by the Met Office, and is in effect from 9am on Saturday 23 November until 9pm on Sunday 24 November.

A second yellow weather warning for rain covers the majority of the region and is in place from 6am on 23 November until midnight on 24 November.

Met Office meteorologist Craig Snell has said the effects of the storm will continue throughout the weekend.

"There will be some heavy rain and travelling conditions throughout the day will be pretty poor," he said.

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He added that 68mph winds were recorded in Brixham, Devon on Saturday morning.

Over the weekend, Wales and the South West could see up to 75mm of rain widely, and potentially more. There is a chance that some places over Dartmoor could see 100-150mm of rainfall, the national weather service said.

Gloucestershire Police has also said that "due to the increased demand during Storm Bert", people should only call 999 in an emergency or where there is a risk to life.

The force said people can report non-emergencies on it's website, and flooded or blocked roads to the council online.

Power cuts

Almost 9,000 homes across the South West are currently without power, according to the National Grid [1].

There are currently 105 separate outages across the region, affecting around 666 households. In Cornwall, this includes homes near Camborne, Truro and St Ives.

Households have also been left off the grid near Liskeard, Plymouth, Exeter, Honiton, right across Somerset, and around Kingswood, South Gloucestershire.

National Grid says work is underway to restore power to those affected.

Ross Easton, of Energy Networks Association (ENA) - which represents the UK's power network operators, said: "There are a few localised weather-related power cuts in parts of Britain this morning.

However, for most parts of the country the severe weather hasn't yet had a significant impact.

"Forecasters are describing this as a 'multi-hazard event' with the worst of the weather yet to arrive, and so our members have extra engineers and contact centre teams available, and control rooms are monitoring the storm closely as it develops."

Travel disruption

One lane on the M4 Westbound from J18 (Bath) to J19 (Bristol) is closed due to debris being blown into the road.

The M48 Severn Bridge in Gloucestershire has been closed in both directions between J1 and J2 due to strong winds. National Highways has advised motorists to use the M4 Prince of Wales Bridge instead.

The Tamar Bridge has restricted traffic and closed lanes after winds of between 60 and 67mph were recorded on it. It was previously shut to high-sided vehicles but this has now been lifted.

However, the centre lane remains closed to vehicles for safety reasons.

Other road closures include:

M32 Northbound (Bristol) - One lane closed due to flooding between St Pauls and Eastville
A30 closed in both directions between A388 Tavistock Road (Launceston) and Trethorne Leisure Park due to accident
A377 is closed in both directions in two places, both at Northcote Manor and at Kings Nympton, due to trees having collapsed
The A377 is also shut in both directions near Crediton due to flooding between Hookway Cross (Crediton) and Five Elms Lane
A3058 closed in both directions due to a fallen tree near the Fraddon turn off
A3072 closed in both directions near Copplestone due to an accident
A3088 Western Relief Road in Somerset is closed in both directions between Montacute and Yeovil due to an accident
A303 Eastbound (Somerset) has a lane closure due to debris in the road

South Western Rail (SWR) has announced that services between Exeter and London Waterloo will start and finish at Basingstoke, meaning those trying to get to London will have to find alternative routes.

The company also said journey times will be longer between Salisbury and Exeter and between Bournemouth and Weymouth due to speed restrictions, and services across its network will start later than usual on Sunday and Monday because of safety inspections.

Great Western Railway (GWR) has also said there is no service between Liskeard and Looe due to a fallen tree on the line.

Meanwhile, buses are running instead of trains between Exeter St Davids and Okehampton due to poor weather conditions.

Travel-service Inrix also reports that all sailings have been cancelled on the St Mawes Passenger Ferry between St Mawes and Falmouth.

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Longleat shut for second day

Longleat, in Wiltshire, is just one of many attractions that have had to alter or cancel events planned this weekend.

Several Christmas lights events were scrapped altogether or moved inside on 23 November due to the weather, including in Newton Abbot and in Cullompton.

Longleat is closed to the public for the second day due to storm damage.

Scott Ashman, head of operations, said: "We know it is disappointing for people who have booked but our priority has to be guest safety.

"We had hoped to be able to reopen today as the picture last night [23 November] was very different.

However, an early morning inspection showed lots of lantern damage, which even if the wind dropped as forecast, and we opened later in the day it wouldn't have been a good experience for people attending.

Storm damage at Longleat caused by strong winds, which has meant the site has had to shut for a second day. Credit: Longleat.

"When the weather improves, we have crews on standby to clear the grounds of tree debris and fix the lanterns so we are keeping everything crossed that we can reopen on Monday but will update guests later today.

"We have ensured automatic refunds for all who have booked, and we are grateful people have been understanding.

We hope the majority can be accommodated on other dates as the event runs until 5 January."

Storm Bert in pictures

Waves break over the promenade in Penzance on 23 November. Credit: Penzance Council.The RNLI's Penlee Severn Class All Weather Lifeboat 'Ivan Ellen' launches during Storm Bert for a training exercise. Credit: Penzance Council.A pair brave the waves on the seafront in DawlishHuge waves and spray break in Dawlish during Storm Bert.High tide in Dawlish as Storm Bert hit the South West on the morning of 23 November.

References

^ National Grid (powercuts.nationalgrid.co.uk)
^ here (www.itv.com)