BBC News, on Climate, 24 October 2026

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Tree falls on Canterbury RSPCA facility during Storm Austen

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Tree falls on RSPCA facility during Storm Austen Image source, RSPCA Canterbury and District Animal Centre Image caption, The charity said sick kittens that were inside the site had been moved By Jacob Panons South East Published 24 October 2026 An animal charity has said an isolation facility has been "destroyed" by a tree which fell amid high winds brought by Storm Austen. The RSPCA's Canterbury and District Animal Centre, in Kent, said its staff managed to escape unharmed and the sick kittens inside had been moved.

It said it was trying to rehome the remaining small animals with "urgency" while it tried to recover what it could. Roads, railways, ferries and flights were affected across Kent, Surrey and Sussex on Friday as the first named storm this winter moved through the region . The Canterbury RSPCA branch said its space, money and resources were already "stretched beyond belief" as it appealed for homes for three solo male rabbits and a pair of bonded male guinea pigs.

It asked people to "cross your paws for us as the costs are mounting and we are worried". A second storm, named Boelo, is set to hit the UK later, . A yellow warning for rain will be in place for almost all of the South East between 11:00 and 23:00 on Saturday. The Met Office says power supplies could be affected, and flooding of a few homes and businesses is possible. Travel disruption is also likely.

Follow BBC Kent on Facebook , external , on X , external , and on Instagram , external and listen to BBC Radio Kent on Sounds . Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk , external or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250. Related topics Canterbury RSPCA More on this story Pigeon care group helps birds with stringfoot Published 2 days ago About 100 guinea pigs rescued from property Published 25 June 2025 Kittens dumped outside church in Aldi cool bag Published 4 September 2025 Related internet links RSPCA Canterbury and District Animal Centre

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What we found (1)

BBC News reports that a tree brought down by Storm Austen destroyed an isolation unit at the RSPCA's Canterbury centre, with staff unharmed and kittens moved, and that a second storm will bring heavy rain and possible flooding. The report is accurate and sourced. Its only gap is that it forecasts heavy rain and flooding without a word that warming makes such rainfall heavier.

  1. Leaves out the climate link

    Minor

    “bringing strong winds and heavy rain to much of the country”

    Why this matters
    The BBC forecasts heavy rain across much of the UK from Storm Boelo, and in S9 possible flooding of homes and businesses, but never says that warming makes heavy rainfall more intense.
    The impression it gives
    A reader takes the coming rain and flood risk as ordinary autumn weather with no connection to the warming climate.
    The context
    Human-caused warming has made heavy rainfall more frequent and more severe. The article is mainly a local story about an animal charity, so the gap is small, but a single line would have carried the link.

    How we know

    • On the recordThat warming has made hot extremes, heavy rainfall, agricultural and ecological drought, fire weather and intense tropical cyclones more frequent or more severe.ipcc.ch (opens in a new tab)
    • Elsewhere in the article“flooding of a few homes and businesses is possible”
    • Checked against the whole articleIt never uses the words “warming”.

    Show it in the article

What it gets right

  • “The RSPCA's Canterbury and District Animal Centre, in Kent, said its staff managed to escape unharmed and the sick kittens inside had been moved.”

    The BBC names the charity and attributes each claim about the damage and the animals' safety to it.

  • “The Met Office says power supplies could be affected, and flooding of a few homes and businesses is possible.”

    The BBC attributes the forecast to the Met Office and keeps the warning's own measured wording rather than inflating it.

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