Storm Debi – live: London weather warning extended as Met Office warns of lightning damage to buildings
Yellow warnings currently in place as blustering winds and flooding wreak havoc across UK
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A yellow weather warning for thunderstorms, heavy rain and severe gale-force wings has been extended across London and southern England, as Storm Debi continues to batter parts of the UK.
The Met Office has warned of potential damage to buildings from lightning strikes or strong winds, as well as a chance of power cuts, and possible travel disruption and delays.
In its update on Tuesday, the forecaster said the warning area has been adjusted to focus on southern and southeast England, with the end time delayed until mid-afternoon. The warning has been in place since 5am and was supposed to run until midday but has now been extended to 3pm.
It comes as multiple “danger to life” weather warnings were issued across the country on Monday.
High winds and rain from Storm Debi were causing road closures and disruption to public transport across Northern Ireland, as the Met Office warned of “danger to life” from flying debris, “fast flowing or deep floodwater”, and large waves in some areas.
Strong winds have also been recorded in the region on Tuesday morning, with the highest reaching 74mph at Killowen in Co Down.
Storm knocks over sea wall and boat washes off moorings in Ireland
Storm surge knocked over a sea wall and a boat was washed off moorings in Oranmore, while a gust of 115kph was recorded on Monday morning at a Met Eireann weather station in Athenry, Co Galway.
Downed trees and flooding were reported in Co Cavan while Louth County Council also recorded fallen power lines.
Fire crews in Meath responded to a number of incidents involving vehicles and fallen trees but reported no injuries.
The ESB (Electricity Supply Board) said it would have to work late through the night to return power to some areas, after more than 100,000 homes and businesses were without electricity at the peak of outages on Monday morning.
By Monday afternoon, around 70,000 customers remained without power.
ESB spokesman Brian Tapley had said earlier that the worst affected areas were Tuam, Longford, Ashbourne, Navan and the Midlands.
Recovery operations underway across Ireland
Recovery operations are under way after Storm Debi swept across Ireland, forcing some schools to close and disrupting public transport services.
A woman was taken to hospital after being hit by flying debris in Limerick, as the storm also brought coastal flooding and widespread power outages across Ireland.
The majority of the country was placed under red and orange wind warnings on Monday as Irish forecaster Met Eireann warned of “severe and damaging gusts”, with the last of the warnings lifting by 3pm.
With all weather warnings now expired, the focus turned to clearing roads of debris, reconnecting the 70,000 homes and businesses left without power and helping those hit by flooding.
An Irish Government scheme to support people living in homes affected by severe weather has been extended following flooding in Galway city and nearby Oranmore.
One Galway businessman told the PA news agency that “unthinkable” flooding damage done to his business could cost between 500,000 and 700,000 euro to fix.
“The people are devastated. There is no flood defence, this could happen in two weeks’ time if we get another bad storm, until something is done about it,” he said.
Strong gales begin to ease in the north
Blustering winds will begin to ease this evening across northern England, the Met Office has said.
In a post on X, the weather service wrote: “The very strong winds across northern England will start to abate this evening as #StormDebi pulls away into the North Sea.
“Staying windy in many areas though with showers or longer spells of rain, albeit with some clear periods, especially in the south”
How are storms named?
For the 2023/24 season, the way the Met Office and Irish service Met Éireann names storms has changed.
Previously, names were drawn from a shortlist of favourites chosen by the public.
But now, the storms will be named after those working to protect people from severe weather around the UK.
Storm Debi is named after Debi Garft, a recently retired policy officer in the Scottish Government Flooding Team.
In the UK a storm is named if it has the potential to cause disruption or damage which could result in an amber or red warning.
Boat washes off morrings in Ireland
A boat washed off moorings at Galway Bay Sailing Club near Oranmore, Co Galway after Storm Debi swept across Ireland.
Thunderstorms and lightning to hit UK as new weather warning issued
A yellow weather warning for a thunderstorm has been issued across southeast and southwest England for Tuesday.
Thunder and lightning as well as “sudden, torrential downpours” are expected as well as strong winds and hail, the Met Office said.
There is a chance of damage to buildings from lightning strikes or gales as longer journey times are likely due to the wet and windy weather.
The Met Office said: “A band of very squally showers is expected to push quickly east across the warning area, reaching the Isles of Scilly and Cornwall by 0500, then continuing quickly east through Tuesday morning.”
The warning is in place from 5am until midday on Tuesday.
Storm Debi causes rail havoc
Storm Debi has brought down trees at several key locations on the rail network, Simon Calder writes.
The Stansted Express service between the airport and London was cancelled for several hours because a fallen tree damaged the overhead wires at Bishop’s Stortford in Hertfordshire.
Damage to overhead wires has also halted trains between Leeds and Wakefield Westgate. Passengers between Leeds and London are advised to travel via York. Rail replacement buses are running between Leeds and Doncaster, but journeys are likely to be extended by an hour.
The main rail line between Birmingham and Coventry has reopened after overhead wire problems, which halted all trains for a time.
Fallen trees are also causing disruption in at least three other locations: Bournemouth, Oxted in Surrey and Westerfield in Suffolk.
Rail passengers in Scotland are facing a wide range of issues, largely due to flooding.
The West Highland line from Glasgow to Oban and Mallaig via Fort William has flooded near Ardlui. Trains from Glasgow to Carlisle via Dumfries are also being delayed by flooding.
Network Rail Scotland posted on X: “The rainfall has reduced and residual water is flowing from the hillside onto the track.
“Staff are working to mitigate waterflow by digging a drainage channel. The good news is that the ballast has not been dislodged and track is stable.”
The line between Cupar and Leuchars has reopened, though trains still face delays of 30 minutes.
Severe flight disruption caused by Storm Debi
British Airways has cancelled 50 flights at London Heathrow, our travel correspondent Simon Calder writes.
Domestic departures to Aberdeen, Belfast City, Manchester and Newcastle were grounded, along with two flights each to Edinburgh and Glasgow. The return legs were also cancelled.
Many European services have also been axed: to Amsterdam, Billund, Brussels, Dublin, Luxembourg, Lyon, Milan, Marseille (2), Nice, Oslo, Prague, Rome, Stuttgart, Toulouse, Warsaw and Zurich.
At Dublin airport, morning arrivals from New York on Aer Lingus and from Helsinki on Finnair were diverted to Shannon in the west of Ireland. British Airways cancelled two round trips from London City to the Irish capital, as did KLM from Amsterdam to Dublin.
The Isle of Man’s airport has seen many cancellations, including Loganair to and from Birmingham, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London City, London Heathrow and Manchester.
An easyJet flight from Manchester to the island in the Irish Sea turned back after it made an unsuccessful attempt to land.
Storm Debi’s ‘strongest winds’ across Northern Ireland and Wales today
The Met Office said the “strongest winds” from Storm Debi were across Northern Ireland and northwest Wales earlier today, with the peak wind gusts more recently on Irish Sea coasts in northern England.
What weather warnings are in place today?
There are currently four yellow and one amber weather warning in place across the UK for Monday.
Amber - Wind: North West England, Yorkshire & Humber. In place until 4pm.
Yellow - Wind: East Midlands, North East England, North West England, Wales, West Midlands, Yorkshire & Humber. In place until 6pm.
Yellow - Rain: North East England, North West England, Yorkshire & Humber. In place until 6pm.
Yellow - Rain: Central, Tayside & Fife, Grampian. In place until 9pm.
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