Storm Lilian has wreaked havoc in Britain and Ireland after it touched down in the early hours of Friday morning.
The storm, which was named yesterday, has ripped across the north of England and south of Scotland – leaving transit and powercut chaos in its wake.
One flight from London Heathrow to Edinburgh just after 6am was cancelled, while social media reports suggested hundreds of people were left to suffer in traffic jams after the storm brought down trees across the country.
In Merseyside, police warned drivers: “It’s very windy out there due to Storm Lilian, so please take care if you are driving.”
While National Highways confirmed the M48 Severn Bridge in Gloucestershire had been closed in both directions between J1 and J2 owing to “strong winds”.
The Met Office had imposed a yellow weather warning for wind in excess of 75mph across swathes of Britain yesterday afternoon – which itself followed Hurricane Ernesto’s tail end smashing into Ireland, Wales and western Scotland.
The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for wind as trees came down in Leeds
Met Office/PA
More foliage was brought into roads as Yorkshire was buffeted by the winds
PA
Alongside the wind warnings, which are in force until late on Friday morning, England has been subjected to 22 “red” flood warnings and 59 “orange” flood alerts, with eight alerts in Wales – while Scotland has been slapped with one red warning and 14 alerts.
By 9am on Friday, gusts of up to 60mph have been recorded across Wales and northern England – with wind speeds reaching 72mph at Capel Curig in Wales after forecasters had warned of 80mph hurricane-force blasts.
The storm has left tens of thousands of people without power in Yorkshire and the North East – with the Northern Powergrid reporting thousands of “unplanned power cuts” from north of the Tyne to south of the Humber.
In London, just weeks after the capital simmered in 30C heat, commuters were buffeted by strong winds and dismal rain as they made their way to work.
While in Manchester, “multiple trees down” have severely disrupted the city’s Metrolink Network, with most tram lines having been suspended as workers scramble to clear tracks.
MORE WEATHER CHAOS:
Commuters were buffeted by strong winds and dismal rain as they made their way to work in London
PA
Due to Storm Lilian bringing multiple trees down across the Metrolink Network we have several line suspensions.
Please check https://t.co/daP1t9jNqk to see if your journey is affected.
Ticket acceptance is in place on any Bee Network services or Stagecoach services.
— Bee Network (@BeeNetwork) August 23, 2024
Nationally, a Network Rail spokeswoman said it the organisation was closely monitoring the “potential impact” the Lilian may have on rail travel.
She said: “We have teams on hand to put in appropriate measures, if necessary, to ensure that we can continue to run trains safely and as reliably as possible.”
National Rail has reported travel disruption due to trees blocking lines in parts of Wales, the southwest and West Midlands, while Northern confirmed a number of lines across its network were blocked – with passengers told to expect delays and cancellations.
At Leeds Festival – underway at Bramham Park from Wednesday to Sunday – revellers woke up to discover the storm had blown down fences at camp grounds after being warned to secure their tents overnight.
One festivalgoer told GB News: “There’s been tents destroyed and some of the shops and walls have completely collapsed… It’s awful.
Revellers at Leeds Festival woke up to discover the storm had blown down fences at camp grounds
GB News
“It was heavy rain last night, but no wind – so the ground is quite wet.”
But then, Lilian’s high winds struck this morning, with music fans describing the storm as “sounding like a jet flying over” as they woke up.
The storm has set records – according to the Met Office, Lilian is the 12th named storm in this season alone – the furthest meteorologists have made it through their list of names in almost a decade.
But the weekend is set for calmer climes, with a Met Office spokesman confirming Saturday and Sunday would not see a “washout”.
They told the Metro that “there will be some further rains, but no further warnings are in place”, while Saturday is “not looking anywhere near as bad” despite some patchy rain.