Storm Amy has caused widespread disruption across the UK and Ireland for a second consecutive day, leaving thousands of homes without power and forcing the closure of parks, railway lines, and ferry routes as winds of up to 100mph batter parts of the country.
The Met Office had issued a yellow wind warning for the entire UK, with an amber alert in place for northern Scotland, where “damaging” gusts exceeding 90mph have been recorded.
A yellow warning for northeast Scotland has been extended to midday on Sunday.
Scotland and Ireland have been the worst affected, with power cuts continuing across the Highlands.
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN), the distribution network operator for the north of Scotland, said 42,000 homes remained without power on Saturday afternoon. The company said hundreds of additional team members are working on SSEN’s response to the storm.
In Northern Ireland, NIE Networks said 50,000 properties had been cut off.
In Moray, northeast Scotland, a man was airlifted to safety after he was stranded on a sandbank on the River Spey near Garmouth. The coastguard said he was winched off the island by Coastguard Rescue Helicopter 151 from Inverness and flown to a place of safety. He was said to be safe and well.
Meanwhile, several buildings collapsed and some cars were hit by fallen trees.
On Saturday morning, ScotRail said about 80 trees had been brought down on lines and engineers were checking routes before resuming services. All services out of Glasgow Central were suspended.
Network Rail has said teams were “working around the clock” to repair extensive damage caused by Storm Amy. It said more than 170 separate incidents have been reported so far.
Royal Parks confirmed that all of its sites in London, including Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, and St James’s Park, were closed due to “severe wind gusts”.
In a statement, Royal Parks said: “Due to severe wind gusts caused by Storm Amy, all of the royal parks, plus Brompton Cemetery and Victoria Tower Gardens will be closed on Saturday October 4. This closure includes all park roads and cycleways, cafes and kiosks, parks sports venues, the Serpentine lido and boating lake, and the royal parks shop.”
The Met Office also confirmed that a new UK record for the lowest pressure in October had been set. Storm Amy showed a central pressure of 947.9 hectopascals (hPa) at Baltasound, Shetland, breaking the previous record of 950.9hPa set in 1988.
The agency said the weather will remain wet and very windy in northern Scotland, while elsewhere winds will slowly begin to calm. On Sunday, the strong winds will continue to ease, the Met Office said.
