Thousands of homes in Scotland and north-east England are still without power after Storm Malik hit, as northern parts of the UK brace for winds of up to 90mph with the arrival of Storm Corrie.
Northern Powergrid, which supplies north-east England, confirmed 7,000 homes were still without power on Sunday evening. The Scottish government said that about 7,500 households are expected to be without power by the end of Sunday and warned they could be waiting until Tuesday before their service will be restored.
Those affected are mainly in Northumberland, County Durham and rural Aberdeenshire.
Paul Glendinning, a director at Northern Powergrid, said: “We have successfully restored supplies to more than 60,000 customers, but given the amount of work that there is to do and the fact that we are expecting more high winds during Sunday afternoon, we think that it is likely that a relatively small proportion of our customers will remain without power beyond Sunday night.”
Winds of 92mph were recorded in the exposed region of Stornoway as Storm Corrie began to hit the UK on Sunday night, bringing strong gusts inland. It is set to move eastwards across Scotland and push across the North Sea in the early hours of Monday. Strong winds are expected through to the early hours of Monday and they may reach the tip of Norfolk, where large waves could form and damage could hit the coast. Amber and yellow weather warnings for wind across northern parts of Scotland from Sunday into Monday morning are in force. They state: “Flying debris is likely and could lead to injuries or danger to life.”
Two people were killed by falling trees on Saturday as Storm Malik caused widespread disruption and left thousands without power. A nine-year-old boy died in hospital and a man was injured after a tree fell on them in Winnothdale, near Stoke. A 60-year-old woman was fatally injured by falling tree in Aberdeen as gusts of up to 85mph were recorded on the nearby Aberdeenshire coast.
Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said: “That is exceptionally strong for any time of the year and there is no wonder there were significant impacts such as power outages and damage to buildings. It is very unfortunate that things were worse than that for some people.”
Winds of more than 100mph were reported in parts of Scotland on Saturday, but the first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said the latest storm could be worse. “Unfortunately, as Malik subsides, Storm Corrie is about to hit from late [Sunday] afternoon and may be more severe for parts of Scotland – eg Highlands, Grampian, Tayside than anticipated,” she tweeted.
ScotRail said that due to strong winds from Storm Corrie, all services would be withdrawn by 6pm on Sunday, and it put in place a nationwide 40mph speed restriction. There was rail disruption across the UK on Sunday morning due to damage to overhead wires caused by Storm Malik.
Burkill said: “It is not just the case of strong winds causing problems – there is also the ice risk across parts of Scotland through to the early part of Monday morning. There will be some wintry showers. Emergency services are trying to get out, utility companies are trying to make repairs and so the icy conditions are not going to make that easier for them.”
Ice warnings were also issued by the Met Office covering Grampian, Highlands and Eilean Siar, Strathclyde and Fife as falling temperatures after Storm Corrie may lead to snowfall and turn untreated surfaces icy.
