Barra’s 1,000-mile wide ‘weather bomb’ explodes
Blizzards and 86mph gales spark travel chaos... and more power cuts
STORM Barra smashed into Britain yesterday bringing blizzards, flood warnings and travel chaos.
The 1,000-mile wide system developed into a ‘weather bomb’ – in which a rapid drop in pressure causes very high winds – as it swept in from the Atlantic.
Fallen trees blocked roads and rail lines while 4,600 homes were left without power in County Durham, Teesside, North Yorkshire and Northern Ireland – as engineers in Northumberland struggled to reconnect the final 500 properties cut off ten days ago as a result of Storm Arwen.
Gales gusting at up to 86mph combined with heavy snow over higher ground in the North to make travel treacherous, while parts of the South Coast were on alert for flooding. In Dorset, the body of Venetia Smith, 80, was found after she apparently fell into the swollen River Stour in Blandford. In the Lake District, a man and a woman were taken to hospital after a tree fell on them in a park in Keswick. Wind damage to terminal buildings forced the Isle of Man’s only airport to shut, while the roof of an indoor ski slope in Trafford, Manchester, was torn off.
A Met Office yellow weather warning for strong winds remains in place until 6pm today for the coastline from Anglesey in north Wales to the Isle of Wight and flood warnings were in place last night for parts of the South Coast, the North East and Wales.
Although further widespread heavy rain, blustery winds and wintry showers are forecast for today, experts do not expect Barra to cause the same level of disruption as Arwen did, and the rest of the week is expected to be brighter but cold.
Boris Johnson admitted yesterday that too many had spent too long without power as a result of Arwen and said Britain needed ‘better resilience’ against extreme weather.