Second 80mph storm set to hit Britain

Parts of southern Britain were ravaged by winds of more than 80 miles per hour as storms hit the country on Monday - but forecasters have warned northern areas to brace themselves for their turn.


The Met Office said on Tuesday that a second weather front was expected to hit northern England, Northern Ireland and north Wales on Tuesday night, threatening to cause winds of 80 miles per hour of stronger in coastal and highland areas.

A wider band of the country stretching from Tayside in Scotland down to south Wales and Essex may also need to batten down the hatches on Tuesday night and through to Wednesday.

It comes just a day after storms lashed the country, hitting the south coast of England, Devon, Cornwall and south Wales particularly hard.

High winds brought down trees, disrupted transport and left more than 10,000 people in south Wales and the West Country without power after falling trees crashed into power lines.

The Isle of Wight recorded the highest wind speed, as 95 mile-per-hour winds battered the island, while Liscombe in Devon saw the most rainfall, with an inch falling between 9am and 9pm.

The Environment Agency and UK coastguard, along with officials at Irish Water Safety, warned the public to stay away from the coast as the combination of high winds and spring high tides caused flooding in many areas.

David Rooke, head of flood risk management at the Environment Agency, said: “We understand that people are fascinated by the sea but at times like this we do urge them not to go and watch the high waves – it is extremely dangerous and only takes a few seconds for someone to be knocked off their feet, into the water.”

The Met Office said that although the winds were severe, the weather was not unusual for this time of year, and could not be directly linked to the changing climate.

A spokesperson told edie: “We expect some sort of extreme weather events to increase in frequency but to directly attribute individual events to climate change is just not possible.”

On Monday, UK transport minister Rosie Winterton announced grants of more than £23m to eight local authorities to repair roads and bridges damaged by last summer’s floods.

Kate Martin

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