Storm Isha: 2 dead, thousands without power

Storm Isha brought heavy rain and winds of 99 miles per hour to the UK, leaving thousands of people without power.

Scotland, Northern Ireland, north-west England and Wales were badly affected, with some 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 recorded by the Met Office in Brisleywood, Northumberland, at the height of Isha.

Transport Scotland said wind gusts of 107mph (172km/h) were recorded at Tay Bridge in Dundee. Some of Isha’s winds were the strongest here in the UK in his 10-20 years.

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.

ENA’s Lawrence Slade said power outages could continue in some facilities, especially in remote areas, 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 were left without power in the Republic of Ireland.

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

Transport services were mostly restored on Monday, but some roads remained closed and rail lines remained cut off.

Services on ScotRail, Gatwick Express, Great Northern Railway, Southern Railway, Thameslink Railway and East Midland Railway were disrupted on Monday morning.

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 Met Office’s two amber warnings came into force at 18:00 GMT on Sunday, covering Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and large parts of England.

The rare red warning covered areas stretching from Thurso and Wick in the north of Scotland, 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.

BBC Weather presenter Helen Willetts said: “What’s surprising about Isha is that its impact is extraordinarily widespread, affecting the whole of the UK.”

“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 of Scotland and would not be as strong.

Heavy rain this week could also cause flooding, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The Environment Agency on Monday issued 19 flood warnings in areas where flooding is expected and 85 in areas where flooding is possible. More than 20 flood warnings have been issued in Scotland.

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.