Power cuts after Storm Dudley, with Storm Eunice on the way
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Waves crashed on the seafront at Blackpool ahead of Storm Dudley
Storm Dudley has led to disruption and power cuts across parts of the UK, with the country now bracing itself for a second storm - Storm Eunice.
The Met Office is warning of significant disruption and danger to life from Storm Eunice, with gusts of up to 90mph.
Following Storm Dudley people in north-east England, Cumbria, North Yorkshire and Lancashire were left without power on Wednesday.
The Met Office said the severe weather would probably ease on Thursday before getting worse on Friday.
Travel disruption
In Scotland, all trains were cancelled on Wednesday evening and many lines remain suspended on Thursday morning.
Network Rail warned train services in northern and central England could still be disrupted on Thursday, with some services already affected by cancellations and delays due to fallen trees.
On Wednesday, fallen trees affected roads including this one at Three Crosses in Ross-on-Wye
It advised people to check their journey before travelling.
ScotRail said most of its services would be cancelled until about 10AM on Thursday while safety checks were carried out.
Power cuts
Around 14,000 people in parts of north-east England, Cumbria, North Yorkshire and Lancashire, have been affected by power cuts caused by strong winds.
Nearly 1,700 homes in Wigan were without power, as well as 1,000 homes in Durham, with dozens of other areas affected by pockets of outages.
Despite poor weather conditions in Northern Ireland the supply has not been affected
Northern Powergrid who supply power in these areas said it had reconnected more than 10,000 customers by Wednesday evening.
Electricity North West meanwhile said it had restored power to 630 properties but 1,577 were still without power.
Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) reported no major faults across the power supply network.
Storm Eunice
More severe weather is expected on Friday, with a rare red weather warning declared for parts of south-west England and south Wales.
A weather warning is issued when the Met Office think people need to be careful because the weather may be dangerous.
They can range from yellow - which is the lowest warning, up to red - which is the most serious.
The Met Office said gusts of up to 100mph are possible, across the coasts of west Wales and south-west England.
A lower amber warning for wind remains in place for the rest of Wales and most of England as far north as Manchester.
Winds will start to ease during the late morning on Friday.
An lorry toppled over on to its side on the A696 near Otterburn, Northumberland during the winds brought by storm Dudley
There are also yellow weather warnings for ice in parts of northern Scotland until 10:00, and for wind and snow for much of Northern Ireland, northern England and Scotland.
In Glasgow a warning is in place from 3AM until 6PM on Friday.
Flooding
The Environment Agency warned there was a risk of flooding in southern England on Friday.
It said strong winds could bring coastal flooding to parts of west and south-west England and the southern coast of England. There are also warnings for the tidal River Severn, through the early hours of Friday and into early afternoon.
Across northern England up to 42 flood alerts have been issued.
The storms are bad news for many families who have gone away on holiday for the half-term week
Two flood warnings are in place for the Cumbrian coastline and Keswick Campsite in the Lake District.
Richard Warren from the Lake District Search and Mountain Rescue Association urged people to "stay at home" during the storms.
This wall surrounding a tunnel wall near Tynemouth station was damaged during the storm
He said he felt sorry for visitors who had come to the Lake District for holidays as the weather was "appalling". He said conditions on the hilltops would be "horrendous".
In Scotland, a flood warning has been issued from Ayr to Troon, with five other flood alerts in place.
- Published16 February 2022
