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Power restored to all homes after Storm Otto moves away

The storm had left more than 60,000 homes without power earlier this week.

Gwyn Wright
Sunday 19 February 2023 20:46 GMT
Storm Otto leaves almost 2,000 homes still without power in the UK

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Power has been restored to every home that was disconnected from the grid during Storm Otto.

The Met Office said on Saturday that the storm had “well and truly cleared” but 2,000 homes in Aberdeenshire still had no power that morning.

Around 700 more homes had power restored during the day, and by Sunday evening Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said they had all been reconnected.

The storm left more than 60,000 homes without power earlier this week.

SSEN sent food vans to the main areas that were still without power.

Gusts of 83mph were recorded in Inverbervie, Aberdeenshire, while wind speeds exceeded 70mph across much of Yorkshire and Northumberland on Friday night.

Trains and flights were cancelled and roads blocked by overturned lorries in northern England during the storm.

In England, Northern Powergrid said about 21,000 customers lost power.

On Friday morning, a man was taken to hospital in a serious condition after a tree fell on a street in Sheffield.

South Yorkshire Police were called to Endcliffe Vale Road at 8.50am.

A spokesperson said: “A man in his 50s was injured and was taken to hospital in serious condition. A property nearby was also damaged and structural engineers are at the scene.”

A tree toppled on to a Porsche on Granby Road in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.

Charlie Lowe, a 29-year-old cake business owner, photographed the crushed car on her way to work, telling the PA news agency: “I felt shocked and I think it’s nerve-wracking.

“I felt a bit nervous driving around Harrogate as a result.”

Met Office meteorologist Craig Snell said: “Next week it is set to turn a good deal colder.”

The mercury is set to fall to single figures across all parts of the UK from Wednesday to Friday.

The storm, the first to be named this winter, was labelled Otto by the Danish Meteorological Institute.

It was the first named storm to directly affect the UK this storm-naming season, which began in September.

The first storm to be named by the Met Office, or Irish or Dutch weather services, this season will still be Storm Antoni, in accordance with the 2022/23 name list.

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