Flood warning as thousands lose power after storm

Tens of thousands of homes are without power as a result of the storm and flood warnings are in place.

Two people were killed when trees fell on their vehicles in separate incidents during the storm over the weekend, causing power outages and significant travel disruptions.

Train operators have warned that disruptions to the rail network will continue.

There are 38 flood warnings in place in England and Wales due to recent heavy rain from the storm, although the weather was mostly dry on Monday.

A man from Lancashire, who was locally known as Paul Fiddler.He was killed when a tree fell on his van on Saturday.

Mr Fiddler, a football coach at Lytham Town FC, was described by the club as a “legend” and “true friend” who was “much liked”.

In a separate incident Khair Hussain Shaheen was named by Birmingham City Councilor Majid Mehmood. As a man was killed by a falling tree in Birmingham on Saturday afternoon.

Mr Mehmood paid tribute to Mr Shaheen and said his thoughts and prayers were with his family. West Midlands Police have not yet confirmed the man’s identity.

The Energy Networks Association, which represents energy networks in the UK, said around 66,000 customers were without power across the UK.

The association said 97 per cent of affected customers had been reconnected, with the south and south west of England and Wales the most affected.

National Grid said on Monday that 31,972 properties were without power in south and mid Wales, with Scottish Power reporting 9,845 outages in areas covered by its network.

Northern Ireland’s Electricity Networks said around 1,500 homes were without power as of 07:00 on Monday evening following the storm. Electricity has been restored in more than 92,000 homes after the power outage due to continuous strong winds.

Hot drinks and charging facilities are being provided at community centers to the affected residents.

Flood warnings – meaning flooding is expected – remain in place, with 36 in England and two in Wales.

There are 102 flood alerts – meaning flooding is possible – in England and eight in Wales.

National Rail said some services would continue to be disrupted.

Passengers have been warned to expect cancellations and delays to train services on the West Coast Main Line between London Aston and Scotland.

Buses are replacing trains between Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent.

Damage to overhead electrical wires means there are no trains on the line serving Broomgrove, Redditch and Birmingham New Street, and Lichfield Trent Valley.

There are also disruptions on some of the Great Western Railway lines. Transport for Wales is advising against traveling on certain routes.

Network Rail’s West Coast South Route Operations Manager Chris Baughan said: “Storm Drag has wreaked havoc on the railways this weekend and we are very sorry for the disruption to train services on the West Coast Main Line this morning. As frontline teams continue with emergency repairs and cleanup.”

Tuesday will see bright spells in parts of the north and far west, but dense cloud for much of the south. Dry for most, but the Channel Isles and SE England will see the odd shower.