London, Oct 26. (PA Media/dpa/GNA) – Two men have died and thousands of properties are without power after two storms hit the UK in three days. A man in his 20s was pronounced dead after a tree fell onto a moving car in north London, according to the BBC.
Police were called to Dollis Road in Finchley at 12.40 pm on Sunday, and the man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Chief Inspector Guy Ellwood, from the North West Command Unit, told the BBC: “This is a deeply tragic incident and our thoughts are with the loved ones of the young man who lost his life.”
London Ambulance Service sent ambulance crews, incident response officers and paramedics from its hazardous area response team and a trauma team from London’s Air Ambulance.
It comes after a 60-year-old man died after he was hit by a falling tree in Dumfries and Galloway, western Scotland, at about 10.30 am on Sunday.
Two women were also taken to hospital after they were struck by another falling tree in Aberfeldy, Perth and Kinross. The final weather warning ended at 9 pm on Sunday after Storm Boelo pummelled the north of the UK, bringing 135 kph gusts and a third of a month’s rain to pockets of Scotland.
Power cuts hit 838,700 British properties during Boelo and its predecessor by hours, Storm Austen. By 7 pm on Sunday, 90,600 customers were still without power, said the Energy Networks Association, which represents operators in the UK and Ireland.
Scottish leader John Swinney met senior politicians, emergency teams and forecasters on Sunday to discuss the ongoing response to the weather, amid warnings that similar conditions will return early this week.
After the meeting, Stuart Wilson, of Transport Scotland, said “significant recovery work” is required before the network returns to normal.
Meanwhile, Scottish Social Justice and Housing Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “While we expect some respite from the adverse weather during the day on Monday, there is a possibility of more severe weather conditions early on in the week and we urge everyone to continue to follow advice and heed any warnings.”
A yellow Met Office warning for strong winds and potentially damaging gusts is in place from 3 am on Tuesday to midnight for the far north of England, Scotland, and the far north-east of Northern Ireland. Footage showed floodwater coursing around the town of Largs, North Ayrshire, on Sunday.
Staff at its Thai restaurant Tha-Tien-Thai shared a video of their kitchen overrun by water with the caption: “There is nothing left.” It closed its doors for the foreseeable future “due to larger flood restoration than originally planned”. Some flights were diverted from landing at Leeds Bradford Airport and others were cancelled.
On Sunday evening, Northern Powergrid, which distributes electricity across Yorkshire and the North East, said 13,000 customers in the region were expected to be without power beyond Sunday night.
The energy company added electricity had already been restored to 102,000 customers. Train journeys were also disrupted. Network Rail Scotland shared an image of flooding from the tracks to the platform in one Glasgow station and fallen trees above the lines near another.
Collapsed trees, cables on carriageways, strong winds and damaged surfaces prompted closures to major roads in Scotland. Storm Boelo followed Storm Austen, which brought strong winds to southern parts of the UK on Friday.
The looming low pressure system does not appear as potent as Austen and Boelo. The Environment Agency early on Monday issued 10 warnings that flooding is expected and 65 alerts where it is possible.
GNA