Huge ship blown ashore as 80mph gales lash UK
HEAVY rain whipped by gales of up to 80mph battered Britain yesterday.
The winds were so strong they blew a 16,000-ton Russian cargo ship aground off the Cornish coast.
And gusts overturned six lorries on a ferry in the Irish Sea, crushing cars on board.
The Met Office, which issued a yellow warning of severe weather, said the strongest gusts were 81mph in the western isles of Scotland, while the Isles of Scilly saw wind speeds of 74mph.
Forecaster Becky Mitchell said: “We’ve probably seen the strongest winds we’re going to have now. They will gradually ease.
“Through the rest of the week it will stay rather unsettled with blustery showers for the next couple of days.
“Temperatures will be on the mild side – around 9C (48F) or 10C for the south, and even 12C at the weekend, which is above average for the time of year.”
Yesterday lifeboat and helicopter crews worked in horrific conditions to help the 18 sailors on board the Kuzma Minin after it ran aground off Gyllyngvase Beach in Falmouth, Cornwall, at about 5.40am.
Footage showed helicopter winchman Niall Hanson being lowered down to the ship in terrifying 60mph winds. Local Nigel Kitto said: “The helicopter and lifeboat have been going in and out and it’s incredible to see – the skill of the helicopter pilot. The helicopter is going sideways here against the wind and struggling a bit.”
Disaster
Tugs refloated the 590ft bulk carrier at high tide at just after 2pm following the rescue operation and it will undergo an inspection.
The drama came on the eve of the 37th anniversary of the Penlee lifeboat disaster when 16 people died in heavy seas off nearby Penzance.
But the ship’s Russian owners are blaming Britain for the ordeal and threatening legal action for damages. Despite reports that the Kuzma Minin had 100 faults at its last inspection, the Murmansk Shipping Company blames dangerous conditions around Falmouth, claiming it snagged on an underwater chain.
At the other end of the country, six trucks overturned on a P&O ferry sailing from Larne in Northern Ireland to Cairnryan, Scotland.
Several ambulances went to Cairnryan around 7.30am, along with police, the fire and rescue service and coastguard. Nobody was injured but some passengers were stuck in their vehicles.
A team of 22 mountain rescuers found two climbers lost in brutal conditions on Scotland’s Cairngorm Plateau on Monday night.
It was feared the pair – in their 20s and from Edinburgh – may not survive after being soaked by torrential rain and sleet at 4,000ft, with one suffering from hypothermia.
Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team leader Willie Anderson said winds were too fierce for an airlift, adding: “The conditions were brutal. It was fortunate we got to them when we did.”
The rescue comes a day after a 21-year-old Cardiff University student fell more than 1,600ft to his death on Ben Nevis. His companion – also from the university’s mountaineering club – miraculously survived the fall with broken ribs.