13 Sep 2011

Hurricane Katia’s tail lashes Britain

A motorist dies and an 11-year-old boy is taken to hospital as the remnants of Hurricane Katia bring 80mph winds to Britain.

Although further blustery conditions are expected, today’s winds will not be as strong as they were, forecasters said. Thousands were left without power as gusty weather caused damage to buildings and resulted in travel disruption around the UK.

High waves lashed coastal areas causing ferry companies to cancel scheduled departures, and more trees and branches fell on train tracks and roads.

Thousands were left without power as the weather damaged buildings and resulted in travel disruption around the UK. In County Durham, a driver died when a tree hit a car on the A688 at Dunhouse Quarry, between Staindrop and Barnard Castle.

Durham Police said a passenger in the car was taken to hospital in Darlington with injuries which are not thought to be life threatening.

Fields on fire

Meanwhile, an 11-year-old boy was taken to hospital in Bradford after he was hit by a roof blown off a garage.West Yorkshire Fire Service said the boy was rescued from the debris in Roper Lane, Queensbury, by firefighters and taken to hospital by ambulance.

The boy was taken to Bradford Royal Infirmary but his injuries are also not believed to be life-threatening.

Firefighters in West Yorkshire said they were called to a number of other weather-related incidents yesterday including two in which telegraph poles came down, setting fields on fire.

Steve Ellison, a forecaster at MeteoGroup, said: “The winds have eased quite a bit overnight and haven’t been as strong as they were during the day yesterday.

“Today will be another really quite windy day across northern areas of England, central and southern Scotland and Northern Ireland, but it shouldn’t be as bad as yesterday.

“We’re looking at winds of just over 50mph, possibly reaching 60mph in the most exposed areas.”

He said there will be showers across much of the country, but the heaviest rain will be confined to north Scotland.

“Later in the afternoon that will go into Northern Ireland and southern Scotland and then overnight into northern parts of England but it’s getting lighter as it moves south.”