Overview
- The Cabinet Office sent emergency alerts to compatible mobiles in the red-warning zones, first to the Isles of Scilly around 3pm and then to Cornwall around 5pm, covering roughly half a million people.
- The Met Office confirmed a site-record 99mph gust at St Mary’s Airport as violent winds hit Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly under a red warning from 4pm to 11pm.
- National Grid reported more than 25,000 properties without power in south-west England, as authorities warned of flying debris, very large waves and damage to buildings.
- Network Rail suspended all trains in Cornwall from 6pm, with Devon branch lines also halted and no replacement road transport due to expected hazardous conditions.
- Forecasters described the storm as a rapidly intensifying ‘weather bomb’ and warned of heavy snow overnight in Wales, the Midlands and northern England, while European impacts included flooding in the Balkans and an additional death in Albania contributing to eight weather-related fatalities across the region.