WRATH OF DORIS: EYE OF THE STORM
Winter blasts to continue into the weekend after country suffers deadly visit from severe weather front
BATTERED:
A satellite image of Storm Doris, which hit much of the country yesterday, shows the UK under ominous clouds. While Monday saw London’s warmest day of the winter, yesterday there was torrential rain, wind and even snow in many parts.
A WOMAN died yesterday and a child was left fighting for her life as Storm Doris ripped across the country, bringing with it winter weather blasts that are set to continue into the weekend.
The 29-year-old woman was confirmed dead at the scene after being hit by flying wooden debris from a building in Wolverhampton city centre and suffering what paramedics described as “very serious head injuries”.
And, at Southwood Middle School in Milton Keynes, a girl suffered life-threatening injuries when a section of ceiling collapsed in the sports hall.
Thames Valley Police’s Acting Supt Vince Grey said it was possible that the ceiling collapse was linked to the weather. At least two more people were badly injured in incidents in other parts of the country on a day when winds gusting at up to 100mph caused widespread disruption to road, rail and air transport.
Although Storm Doris was last night moving out into the North Sea, forecasters said further bad weather was on its way. The Met Office yesterday warned of the likelihood of icy patches on “untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths” across much of Yorkshire this morning. Heavy and persistent rain is also forecast for virtually the whole of tomorrow in North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire. A spokesman for the Met Office said: “Please be aware of the possibility of localised flooding and minor travel disruption.”
There were reports yesterday of trees across the country being felled by winds, with one trapping a man in a van on the A374 in Cornwall, and others collapsing onto houses in London and Wigan.
A woman had a lucky escape after her car was hit by a tree as she drove along the A6012 Beeley to Rowsley road in Derbyshire.
Flooding affected roads in the Dore and Darnall areas of Sheffield while in Acomb, York, fire crews dealt with a canopy at a car wash that had worked itself loose during the high winds.
The wind also toppled a double-deck bus onto its side in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. Paramedics assessed 15 people at the scene but no one involved was believed to be in a serious condition.
Snow in Scotland closed the M80 in both directions while some schools shut and ferry services were cancelled.
In Ireland, almost 46,000 households woke up to no electricity after violent winds battered large swathes of the country.
Wolverhampton’s mayor, Barry Findlay, offered his condolences to the loved ones of the woman killed there yesterday.
He tweeted that he was “deeply saddened at today’s tragic news... thoughts with all.” Coffee giant Starbucks said in a statement that it was “shocked and saddened by the terrible incident”, which happened outside one of its stores.
Eyewitness Rebecca Davis, a 40-year-old teacher from the city, described the piece of flying debris as “about the size of a coffee table”.
In London, a man was taken to hospital with serious head injuries amid reports of debris falling from the roof of a building near Victoria Station.
A woman thought to be in her 60s also suffered a serious head injury when she was hit by a carport roof in Stoke on Trent.
A wind speed of 94mph was recorded in Capel Curig, North Wales, while gusts of up to 100mph were reported in Liverpool.
Please be aware of localised flooding and travel disruption The Met Office
THIRTY YEARS after weather forecaster Michael Fish ignored a viewer’s warning about an impending hurricane, the most infamous meteorological mishap of the last century, with calamitous consequences for a country unprepared for the unstoppable forces of Mother Nature, the same could not be said yesterday as Storm Doris breezed across Yorkshire.
This was a county which was able to batten down the hatches, and put contingency plans in place, thanks to the increased public awareness, especially on social media, as a result of the Met Office’s relatively recent decision to follow America’s example and name those gathering storms which have the potential to cause lasting damage to buildings and endanger human life.
And although the quaint and old-fashioned name Doris brings to mind the legendary American actress Doris Day, she was – in this instance – doing her day job.