TWO men have died, and thousands of properties are without power after two storms in three days – and Worcestershire has not escaped unscathed.
Worcestershire escaped the more severe weather experienced in some parts of the UK, with two deaths, one in north London and the other in Scotland.
However, the extreme weather did have an impact closer to home. Although the stormy weather is expected to grow calmer in Worcestershire by the middle of the week, the Met Office has warned that 2026 is going to be renowned for the development of ‘the largest El Niño in living memory and what is probably the largest such event since the 19th century’.
This makes the prospect of storms and extreme weather later in the autumn and winter much more likely, forecasters say.
The National Grid has reported that 930 homes across Worcestershire and Herefordshire have been hit by three outages on Sunday.
The biggest power cut saw 267 properties between Knightwick, Worcestershire, and Bromyard Downs, Herefordshire, left without power.
A Met Office yellow weather warning for wind remains in force across Cornwall and western parts of Wales, Cumbria and western Scotland on Monday which will continue into Tuesday and be extended to most of Scotland.
There remains a flood alert on the River Severn in Shropshire. However, conditions will begin to settle down from Wednesday as high pressure increasingly begins to influence the UK.
A man in his 20s was pronounced dead after a tree fell onto a moving car in north London, the Metropolitan Police said.
Police were called to Dollis Road in Finchley at 12.40pm on Sunday, where the man driving the car was pronounced dead at the scene.
London Ambulance Service sent ambulance crews, incident response officers and paramedics from its hazardous area response team and a trauma team from London’s Air Ambulance.
On Sunday, a 60-year-old man died after he was hit by a falling tree in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland, at about 10.30am.
Two women were also taken to hospital after they were struck by another falling tree in Aberfeldy, Perth and Kinross.
Storm Boelo pummelled the north of the UK, bringing 84mph gusts and a third of a month’s rain to pockets of Scotland.
Power cuts hit 838,700 properties during Boelo and its predecessor by hours, Storm Austen.
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At 8am on Monday, 39,000 customers were still without power, the Energy Networks Association, which represents operators in the UK and Ireland, said.
Storm Boelo followed Storm Austen, which brought strong winds to southern parts of the UK on Friday.
Gusts of 76mph were recorded at St Mary’s Airport in the Isles of Scilly, with 74mph at Aberporth in South Wales and 71mph at Culdrose in Cornwall.
Storm Amy brought a gust of about 92mph and more than 100ml of rain to similar parts of the UK last year, which appears more severe than these two, he pointed out.
The Environment Agency early on Monday issued 10 warnings that flooding is expected and 65 alerts where it is possible.
