Delays on road and rail as Storm Bella hits West
SUNSHINE and showers replaced high winds and heavy rain yesterday as Storm Bella blew through, leaving fallen trees, swollen rivers and damage in its wake.
For surfers, the impact of the storm was still being felt in a heavy swell which made for spectacular waves in some parts of the coast, including at Lyme Regis, where the hardy – dressed in winter weight wet-suits – made the best of the opportunity to catch some waves.
Although the Westcountry was hit with the full force of the storm, other areas saw higher wind speeds while the worst of the flooding has so far affected lower lying areas of central southern England and parts of East Anglia.
Winds reached more than 100mph overnight on Saturday at The Needles on the Isle of Wight, where the top speed of 106mph was recorded as Storm Bella brought rain and blowy conditions across the UK.
Aberdaron in north west Wales experienced gusts of 83mph, and locations on the south coast of England, including Dorset and Devon, got close to 80mph.
Among the Westcountry, roads blocked temporarily by fallen trees and debris were the A30 at Carminow Cross, Cornwall, and the A390 at Twelvewoods roundabout in Liskeard.
There were also reports in the early hours of a tree down on the A38 at Buckfastleigh. The A386 between Plymouth and Yelverton, near the Dartmoor Diner, was also blocked by a fallen tree covering almost the whole width of the carriageway.
Rail services between Exeter St Davids on the branch line to Barnstaple were cancelled for a time because of the impact of the storm, and mainline services between London Paddington and Penzance were delayed because flooding on the line forced a diversion between Reading and Taunton.
A property undergoing renovation in St Austell partially collapsed in the high winds, although no one was hurt as it was empty at the time, and in Plymouth a socially distanced circus performance, organised to meet current regulations on coronavirus, had to be cancelled because high winds damaged the rigging on the big top.
Zippos Circus, which is running at Central Park until January 10, had to abandon performances yesterday and today. Posting on Facebook, a spokesman for the circus said they hoped performances would run again tomorrow – with shows through to 10 January.
Other parts of Britain were also badly hit by Storm Bella. Fire crews in North Yorkshire rescued a number of people from vehicles stranded in floodwater overnight.
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said they used a boat to rescue two men and two dogs from a vehicle stuck in flowing floodwater in Hawes at 12.37am yesterday.
In Aysgarth, a man and a woman were also rescued by boat from the roof of their car at 2.40am after they drove into deep floodwater, while firefighters walked a woman to safety through shallow water in Wensley, North Yorkshire, at 3.35am after a minor collision while driving through floods.
Back down south, all trains between Bournemouth and Southampton Central were stopped due to water on the line, and one of the major lines into London was also blocked when a tree fell on to tracks in Haslemere, Surrey.
In Northamptonshire, two severe flood warnings indicating a potential threat to life were still in place at Cogenhoe Mill caravan site, near Northampton, and on the River Nene near Billing Aquadrome yesterday morning.
In Scotland, northern England, Northern Ireland and parts of North Wales, yellow weather warnings for ice and snow remained in place yesterday.
Meteorologists are warning that snow and ice could also pose a risk to more central and southern areas of England through this week.