“Where trees have fallen they may have impacted on a power line even if damage isn’t immediately obvious, so please look out for power lines and, if in doubt, stay clear,” he said.
“We will only be able to begin to mobilise our crews when the red alert passes.
“At that stage we will be focusing on making the network safe but our plea is for everyone to remain vigilant and clear of any electricity lines.”
Scotland until at least midday on Saturday, ScotRail has said. With the impact of Storm Éowyn causing major transport disruptions, the railway operator said it will not know the full extent of the damage to its tracks and overhead lines until Network Rail carries out a full assessment, a process ScotRail says will “take quite a bit of time”. Workers are expected to start clearing fallen trees and other debris that has landed on the tracks. As a result, all ScotRail services will be suspended until at least 12pm on Saturday.
Millions of people have been urged to stay at home as 100mph winds pose a danger to life and cause travel disruption across the UK, reports the PA news agency. About 4.5 million people received emergency alerts on their phones warning of the incoming storm in the “largest real-life use of the tool to date” on Thursday, reports the PA news agency, with more amber and yellow weather warnings for wind and rain issued for across the weekend.
20,000 Scottish Power customers across the centre and south of Scotland are without electricity due to the Storm. The energy provider said fallen trees and debris had affected power lines across the region.
PA news agency analysis of flight tracking website FlightRadar24 shows at least 334 flights have been cancelled across airports in Aberdeen, Belfast, Edinburgh and Glasgow. According to the PA news agency, this means about 50,000 passengers have been affected.
Satellite imagery potentially shows a dangerous weather phenomenon known as a ‘sting jet’ formed over Ireland on Friday morning, according to the Met Office. A sting jet is a small area of very intense winds, which can be as strong as 100mph or more, according to the weather service. In a sting jet, the strongest winds usually last between three and four hours across an area as small as 30 miles, the forecaster said.
Electricity Supply Board (ESB) has told residents that they cannot give an estimate on when power will be restored.
He said:
We have trees ripped off their stumps lying in the garden, the roof of our neighbour’s outhouse has been torn and a chimney pot fell off her roof just missing her car.”
I think it could be anything between eight-to-nine days for us to get power back, which is understandable. This storm is a particularly nasty one and is still raging here. We live in an old stone building and the noise last night from the wind was deafening.”
There is so much forestry around Leitrim that many of the trees have grown up into the power lines. It means that power crews have to cut through plantation wood before they can even start repairing faults.
In December, Storm Darragh knocked out our power for four days but intermittent power cuts are becoming normal. I think climate change is catching up with us.”
Camp site manager, Rachel Ellis-Lomas, from Dalbeattie, Scotland, says she is grateful to still have power but that part of her fence and greenhouse have been lost to strong gusts. The 48-year-old says the storm is “worse” than what she is used to and that previous ones have been “nothing like this”.
Ellis-Lomas said:
From about 7am the winds have been pretty bad. Our neighbour’s shed has been blown wide open and I think our greenhouse is probably going to go over. We’ve had howling from the gusts blasting into the eaves and our lights have flickered but the power lines are not down yet.
All the schools and shops have closed and the wind is so strong the conifers are diagonal. We’re hunkering down for now as it looks a bit unsafe outside but we’ll assess the damage this evening.”
If you’ve been affected by the storm, you can share your experience here.
Scotland largely empty of traffic, the force issued two terse press notices, which read:
The Tay Bridge is closed in both directions due to high winds. The central walkway is also closed. Please avoid the area.”
And:
Due to high winds the A876 Clackmannanshire Bridge is closed in both directions. Please avoid the area.”
Ireland have been asked to stay home amid a red “danger to life” warning due to a rare “weather bomb” brought by Storm Éowyn.
The Met Office has advised of very dangerous conditions across Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland, and significant disruption, with flying debris, fallen trees on roads, large waves and power cuts likely to affect the area covered by the red warning, where 100mph (160km/h) winds are expected.
Amber and yellow alerts for wind are in place across the rest of the UK, and going into the weekend.
No trains are running in Northern Ireland.
Translink, Northern Ireland’s public transport company, said they would not be running any trains today, adding that services tomorrow may also be affected. It adds that bus services will probably be affected this afternoon and evening.
The company’s director of service operations, Ian Campbell, said that “significant work” was needed to assess the damage, undertake repairs and remove debris from the railway.
Reporters covering Storm Éowyn in the UK and Ireland had to battle against strong winds and heavy rain blowing them around while on TV.
The footage demonstrates the difficulty faced by people in those areas when going outside, with millions being urged to stay at home as 100mph winds pose a danger to life
The number of homes without electricity in Northern Ireland has jumped from 93,000 to 240,000 this lunchtime.
Translink has said it has cancelled all rail services for the rest of the day while dozens of flights have been cancelled.
The severe red weather warning remains in place until 2pm when the extent of power outages could worsen.
More than 70 alerts regarding trees fallen on roads have been recorded with some buildings damaged including an apartment block in South Belfast which lost part of its wall.
The roof of a leisure centre in Bangor has been significantly damaged.
Here are some pictures of the impact Storm Éowyn has had today:
Reporting from Dublin:
The number of homes and premises without power in Ireland has increased to 725,000, the Electricity Supply Board Networks (ESB) has said.
“The worst of Storm Éowyn has now passed for most of the country but with Met Éireann wind warnings remaining in place further outages may still arise,” it said in a statement.
ESB Networks and UK suppliers are both in touch with their European counterparts with a standing request for contingency energy supplies should they be needed.
The red weather warning has now passed in all countries in Ireland apart from Donegal where it remains in place until 2pm.
Source: theguardian.com
