Red alert over storm

Bitter 90mph winds and blizzards batter UK

PUNISHING 90mph winds and snow reaching as far south as the Home Counties were set to bring an early blast of winter last night.

Ahead of the arrival of Storm Arwen, the Met Office issued a rare red ‘danger to life’ warning for damaging gusts and waves as high as ten metres along parts of the north-east coast.

Railway lines were closed and motorists told they ‘should not travel under any circumstances’.

Meanwhile, a band of bitterly cold air was sinking southwards, bringing up to 6in of snow across upland areas of England with as much as 3in settling in higher areas of the South-East.

In response to fears of weather chaos, last night’s episode of I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! was broadcast as a pre-recorded show, with presenters Ant and Dec filming their links earlier in the evening at Gwrych Castle in North Wales.

Insiders said the celebrities were ‘safe inside the castle’, but production staff had feared losing the satellite link due to strong winds.

A man died after his car was hit by a falling tree in Antrim yesterday as Storm Arwen battered

Northern Ireland. Four people had to be rescued yesterday after their ocean rowing boat capsized in 50mph gales 18 miles off the coast of Wales.

They were crossing from Ireland to Aberystwyth on a training exercise to prepare for an Atlantic crossing next year. One was airlifted to hospital by a coastguard helicopter while the rest were pulled to safety by a lifeboat crew. Plummeting temperatures and further wintry showers are forecast over the weekend as the first named storm of the winter fizzles out over the course of today.

The red warning covering the east coast from Middlesbrough to north of Aberdeen from 3pm yesterday until 2am today is the first maximum alert to be issued since Storm

Dennis in February last year. Grahame Madge, a Met Office spokesman, said it didn’t ‘issue red warnings lightly’ and said people should stay away from the coast in the affected area.

The warning means the impact was likely to be severe, with the potential for damage to buildings and homes, with roofs blown off and power lines brought down.

The Met Office also warned people in the zone of the potential for roads, bridges, and railway lines to be closed, with delays and cancellations to bus, train, ferry services and flights.

Weather warnings were in place for most of the UK as the storm approached, with blizzards in northern Scotland followed by warnings of significant snowfall all the way down to the south coast of England.

The UK Health Security Agency issued a cold weather alert and urged people to check on their elderly neighbours.