Storm Isha: 2 dead, thousands still without power

Storm Isha brought heavy rain and winds up to 99mph, leaving thousands of people in the UK without power.

Scotland, Northern Ireland, north-west England and Wales have been affected, with people in remote areas warned they could be without power until Tuesday.

Two people, including an 84-year-old man, died after a car collided with a fallen tree in Scotland.

Storm Jocelyn will bring strong winds and rain to parts of Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom from Tuesday.

The next named storm is the 10th since September and is expected to bring wind gusts of 55 to 65 mph (89 to 105 kph) to northwest Scotland.

Wind gusts are not expected to reach the highest levels seen at the height of Isha, when wind gusts were recorded at 99mph (159km/h) in Northumberland. The UK is experiencing some of its strongest winds in 10 to 20 years.

In Northern Ireland, a man was killed when a tree fell on his car in Limavady, County Londonderry.

Around 53,000 homes in Northern Ireland were left without power during the storm.

Around 30,000 properties across England, Wales and Scotland were without power on Monday morning, according to the Energy Networks Association (ENA), which represents energy providers.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the government was working with authorities to restore power to households, adding that power had been restored to around 300,000 homes.

Lawrence Slade of the Energy Networks Association said some facilities, especially in remote areas, could remain without power until Tuesday.

He said the storm affected much of the UK, with the exception of a small area in eastern England, making it difficult for engineering teams to coordinate.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We will have to send in engineers, but we can only do that when it is safe and when the winds have dropped sufficiently.”

He told the BBC that helicopters and drones would be deployed to help get technicians to affected areas more quickly.

Approximately 235,000 homes and businesses in the Republic of Ireland are without power, according to the latest figures.

Meanwhile, dozens of schools will be closed on Monday, mainly in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Highland Council in the north of Scotland announced that 38 primary and secondary schools would be closed, affecting more than 4,500 students.

The highest wind gust ever recorded by the Met Office was 99mph at Brisleywood, Northumberland.

Transport Scotland said wind gusts of 167mph were recorded at Tay Bridge.

Fallen trees and damaged overhead power lines have also caused disruption across the rail network.

ScotRail suspended services on Sunday night and announced there would be no service on Monday morning due to the storm.

Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Southern and Thameslink services are also expected to be disrupted until 2pm.

East Midlands Railway also said delays or changes to services “could occur”, while LNER announced that no trains would run north of Newcastle until midday.

Scottish ferry services have also been cancelled.

Many trees in the Dark Hedges in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, made famous by the TV series Game of Thrones, were damaged and felled by the storm.

The Japan Meteorological Agency’s two Amber Warnings came into effect at 18:00 GMT on Sunday. One of which was spread throughout central, eastern and western England, and Wales. The other covered all of Scotland, the north of England and Northern Ireland. The rare red warning covered areas stretching from Thurso and Wick in the north, Fraserburgh and Peterhead in the east, and Cromarty and Nairn in the west.

A yellow warning for the second highest winds will be in place for parts of northern Scotland from 6pm on Tuesday, but two other yellow warnings will also be in place for the rest of Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and large parts of England. warning has been issued.

Two yellow warnings for rain will also begin on Tuesday, covering the north-west of England and the west coast of Scotland.

Storm Jocelyn has been named the next storm to be named by the Irish Met Office, with the Met Office announcing it will bring further strong winds and heavy rain to the UK from Tuesday to Wednesday.

BBC Weather presenter Helen Willetts said: “What’s amazing about Isha is that its effects have been felt across the UK and its impact has been extraordinarily widespread.”

“After a week of little rain, replaced by snow, the flood warning has been re-intensified as the storm dumped around 50-100mm of rain in the wettest areas.

“Although it’s not very windy right now, showers, sometimes accompanied by severe thunderstorms, and light winds will continue for much of today.”

Storm Isha is the ninth named storm for the season, which began in September 2023, with Storm Jocelyn being the tenth.

If two more people are nominated between now and August, a new record will be set in 2023-24.

The Japan Meteorological Agency calls storms by name that can cause disruption and damage. The agency says having a name for the storm will make it easier for people to track its progress on TV, radio and social media.

“The UK has reached the letter ‘H’ earlier than any previous season when it comes to naming storms,” ​​said BBC Weather presenter Darren Bett.

“This season has the potential for the most storms since storm naming began in 2015. Coincidentally, that year also brought a record 11 storms up to the letter K.” he said.

However, he added that Storm Jocelyn could pass a little further north in Scotland and would not be as strong.

Heavy rain this week could also cause flooding, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. As of 11am on Monday, the Environment Agency had 19 flood warnings in place for areas expected to flood and 83 for areas likely to flood. There are 36 flood warnings in place in Scotland and one in Wales.

The impact of climate change on storm frequency is unknown, but a warming atmosphere will make extreme rainfall more likely.

Since the beginning of the industrial era, the world has warmed by about 1.1 degrees Celsius.