Wild weather eases – but only until tonight

Two men were killed yesterday when winds of over 100mph hit the UK, causing widespread travel disruption. A van driver from Kent died after his vehicle was crushed by an oak tree at Tunbridge Wells in Kent and a man died on a tanker in the English Channel after the ship was struck by a large wave.

And the wild weather is set to continue. Bill Payne, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: “There’s going to be a brief respite this morning, but winds will pick up later in the day.”

He said the highest winds would be seen in western Scotland, but northern England could see similar strong winds. “It’s going to be windy in Wales and much of England, with many places seeing gusts of up to 50mph.”

The Met Office is also predicting a windy day with rain spreading to most places. Severe gales are forecast on the western coasts of the UK, with showers spreading south-eastwards to cover much of the country by night time. Overnight winds will continue to strengthen with further gales and severe gales in some areas. Thursday will see the rain clearing with some sunshine peering out from behind the clouds.

But Scotland will still be windy, up until late Thursday at the earliest.

Keep track of the weather in your region on the Channel 4 Weather website

Power restored across Scotland

SSE Power Distribution, which supplies electricity in Scotland and southern England said 63,000 customers were disconnected on Tuesday, while 40,000 customers at Scottish Power Energy Network in Scotland and north-west England were also left without power. Southern Electric said around 4,000 properties were affected by power cuts across it’s distribution area, which runs from the Isle of Wight up to Oxfordshire. Most of the problems were being experienced in Berkshire, the company said.

A spokesman said more than 500 engineers were out first thing this morning and they had staff working late into yesterday evening and overnight to fix the problems.

Ferry services resumed

Cross-channel ferry services were back to normal at the Port of Dover in Kent this morning, with winds in the English Channel gusting to Force 4 to 5, compared to Force 11 yesterday. Sea conditions were said to be moderate and visibility good. All services with P&O Ferries to Calais and DFDS Seaways to Dunkirk were “running well and to time” according to port officials.

Only around 30,000 homes are still without power in Scotland and it is expected they will get it back on today.

Power companies had around 1,000 engineers working to restore power, but strong winds were making it dangerous to get into certain areas. The country saw many main road and rail bridges closed, echoing what happened on December 8th, when similar storms hit.

Members of the public were warned not to travel unless their journey was essential.

Train disruption continues

A normal East Coast Service, between Kings Cross and the east coast of Scotland, is expected to run today, following cancellations north of Newcastle yesterday.

But within Scotland, some services remain severely disrupted, with the Glasgow Central to Edinburgh via Shotts service suspended, and buses replacing trains on other services in the area.

Tanker crewman died despite attempts to save him

The tanker crewman who died was British and worked on the MT Annie PG owned by Pritchard-Gordon Tankers Ltd, the company confirmed on Wednesday. A spokesman said they would not be naming him but released a statement saying: “Two crew members sustained injuries when struck by a wave whilst on deck, and a third was injured on attempting to assist. All three were taken to hospital by helicopter rescue. Tragically, despite receiving medical attention on board the vessel and helicopter, one of the men did not survive.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, colleagues and friends and we would like to express our heartfelt condolences at this most difficult of times.”