Wind warning still in place for parts of UK as major clean-up under way after Storms Austen and Boelo batter Britain
A yellow warning for wind has been issued by the Met Office and remains in place for most of northern Scotland, following havoc brought by Storms Austen and Boelo across the weekend. All schools in the Western Isles are closed on Tuesday due to the high winds forecast while in the Highlands 30 primary schools and six secondary schools are shut due to weather-related issues, as are eight in Aberdeenshire. The Met Office warns that gusts of 50-60 mph are possible quite widely while some exposed or coastal areas in the north-west and far north of Scotland could see gusts of 70 mph or more.
Communities are still recovering from Storm Boelo while Storm Austen swept across southern England, Wales, and the Channel Islands. Off the coast of the Isle of Wight, a woman in her 50s has died after being pulled from the sea yesterday. Two people were killed by falling trees on Sunday – a man in his 20s in Finchley, north London, and Richard Baines, 60, in Dumfries and Galloway. Read more: Next storm will be called 'Chloe', Met Office confirms Read more: Around 36,000 remain without power across UK as flooding continues following Storm Boelo Two women were also taken to hospital after they were hit by a falling tree in Aberfeldy, Perth and Kinross.
On Tuesday, a separate yellow wind warning for western areas of England and parts of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland expired at 3am. As of 9.30am on Tuesday, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) had 13 flood alerts and 39 flood warnings in place while the Environment Agency in England had issued five flood warnings that flooding is expected and 41 alerts that flooding is possible. Natural Resources Wales had two flood warnings and eight flood alerts in place.
The Energy Networks Association said that, as of 8am on Tuesday, 829,400 customers around the UK have been reconnected following storms Austen and Boelo while 7,800 customers are without power. Greg Dewhurst, senior operational meteorologist at the Met Office, told the Press Association: “Most will have a day of sunny spells and blustery showers on Tuesday, showers heaviest and most frequent in the north. “Thereafter for the week ahead we see a change in the weather.
High pressure will build from the south over the coming days, so generally settling down but potentially bringing some overnight fog at times. “This high pressure looks set to remain over the UK for the weekend too. So, most places dry, though perhaps some patchy rain in the north at times.” On Tuesday, early rain will clear eastern and south-eastern England, while heavier rain in the north west of Scotland gradually turns to showers, the forecaster said.
The strongest winds will continue to affect Scotland, particularly in the far north and north west where gusts in excess of 70mph are possible. The Hebrides are most likely to experience the strongest winds which could potentially last several hours. Elsewhere, there will be sunny spells and showers will continue, with some heavy in western areas. Conditions will begin to settle down from Wednesday as high pressure increasingly begins to influence the UK, the forecaster said.
What are the rest of the storm names? The next storm will be called Chloe when it hits, the Met Office and its partners have said. The agency works with its Dutch equivalent, the KNMI, and its Irish equivalent, Met Éireann, which means that the storm names agreed, after a public consultation, reflect those of the countries. The list of names to come are: * Chloe, * Dano, * Evelyn, * Finn, * Gwendolyn, * Heather, * Ivy, * Jade, * Kilian, * Laoise, * Miriam, * Nicola, * Olaf, * Phelim, * Ruban, * Shaun, * Theo, * Vesna, * Wende
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