UK weather: Storm Jocelyn brings high winds and fresh travel disruption

  • 1/24/2024
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Parts of the UK have been battered by a second storm in just three days as MPs called for long-term protections against future extreme weather. Storm Jocelyn brought fresh travel disruption to much of the UK, less than two days after Storm Isha left two people dead and thousands without power. The 10th named storm of the season brought an amber warning for wind in parts of Scotland on Wednesday morning, with much of the UK covered by a yellow alert into Wednesday afternoon. The Met Office reported high winds in north Wales, with gusts reaching 97mph in Capel Curig in Snowdonia (Eryri) and 79mph in Aberdaron. They reached 77mph at Shap, Cumbria. On Wednesday, the shadow Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden raised an urgent question in the House of Commons on UK resilience to extreme weather. He said: “Our constituents around the country have been hit by widespread damage, flooding, power outages, cancellation of flights, ferries and trains, and in the most tragic circumstances a reported four people have lost their lives.” He added: “Of course, ministers can’t control the weather. Indeed, the ex-ministers on the benches opposite can’t even control themselves. But the greater regularity and severity of extreme weather demands a response from government.” The Scottish National party MP Kirsty Blackman said she wished the government “would take climate change more seriously given the incredible amount of extreme weather events”. The Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart insisted the government had learned lessons from past storms. A search for a person reported to be in the sea at Porthcawl, south Wales, resumed on Wednesday morning after being suspended overnight. HM Coastguard said rescue teams and RNLI lifeboats were taking part in the search operation. ScotRail suspended its services at 7pm on Tuesday and through the Wednesday morning rush hour as the storm battered the country. Routes began to reopen from around lunchtime after safety checks, though ScotRail warned it would take time for services to return to normal. Avanti West Coast services also resumed after the company told passengers not to travel north of Preston until at least noon on Wednesday. A Grade II-listed historic military aircraft hangar in Salisbury built more than 100 years ago collapsed in high winds during Storm Isha, to the anger of historians and conservationists who had been warning its condition was precarious. The site was used as a training depot station in the first world war and in 1944 the hangars were converted into use for housing vehicles being specially prepared for D-day. A Historic England spokesperson said: “We remain disappointed with the deteriorating condition of the Grade II-listed hangar at Old Sarum airfield in Salisbury, and we’re concerned to hear there has been a further collapse. A plan has been put forward to rebuild the hangars using some of the original material.” The number of flood warnings – meaning flooding was expected – stood at 20 in England and 22 in Scotland on Wednesday afternoon. Forecasters expect winds to ease gradually from the south as Storm Jocelyn moves away from the UK. Cloud and outbreaks of rain will move north-east on Thursday, with brighter conditions on Friday and Saturday and frequent showers in the north. Storm Isha resulted in two deaths. One was an 84-year-old man who was a front-seat passenger in a car that crashed into a fallen tree in Grangemouth, Falkirk, Police Scotland said. A man in his 60s was killed in a crash involving two vans and a fallen tree in Limavady, County Derry, on Sunday night, the Police Service of Northern Ireland said.

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