Storm Austen Lashes Britain With 80mph Winds, Cancelling Flights and Cutting Power to Thousands

Storm Austen, the first named storm of the season, hit southern Britain on Friday with gusts of up to 80mph, cancelling flights, closing schools and cutting power to thousands of homes. The Met Office kept an amber warning for wind in force across Cornwall, Devon, the Isles of Scilly and Plymouth from 1am until 10am, and warned of flying debris, damage to buildings and a possible danger to life from large waves on the coast.

Drivers in Devon and Cornwall were told to travel only if necessary. The Sun reported overturned vans, fallen trees, downed power cables and debris blown across roads, and Cornwall Council said its teams were responding to about 100 highway incidents, most of them debris and flooding. A closure was in place on the A39 in Cornwall, and fallen trees blocked roads and pavements around Falmouth.

Airports shut in the Channel Islands and on the South Coast

Jersey Airport cancelled all of its flights on Friday morning and expected services to restart in the afternoon. Southampton Airport cancelled most of its morning flights, including services to the Channel Islands, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast. Aurigny, the Guernsey based airline, cancelled all of its services on Friday morning, with departures cancelled until at least midday and arrivals until 2pm. Travellers at Heathrow, Gatwick and London City airports were told to check their flight status before leaving home.

Trains and ferries stopped

CrossCountry cancelled its trains between Plymouth and Penzance on Thursday and Friday. Great Western Railway ran a reduced timetable with speed restrictions in place until about 1pm, and its long distance trains from London Paddington ended at Plymouth. The Isles of Scilly Steamship Group said its vessels would not sail between Penzance and the islands on Friday or Saturday, with sea heights of up to 5 metres expected. Its passenger ferry Scillonian III and its freight service Menawethan were both cancelled, and Brittany Ferries cancelled its high speed sailings to and from Guernsey on Thursday and Friday.

Power cuts, closed schools and evacuated holiday parks

Cornwall Council reported 21 power cut incidents that left 9,251 homes and businesses in Cornwall without power, and about 1,000 properties in South West Wales also lost their supply, according to National Grid figures reported by The Sun. In Cornwall, 87 schools were closed or opened late, and every school in Jersey shut for the day. Haven evacuated guests from its Perran Sands and Riviere Sands holiday parks in Cornwall. A Haven spokesperson said anyone staying on the park was being asked to leave and that arrivals would be delayed, and staff at Perran Sands hoped to reopen the site on Saturday afternoon.

Forecasters warn of a second storm

Yellow warnings covered most of England and Wales through Friday, with gusts of 45 to 60mph forecast, and a separate yellow warning covered part of Scotland, including Glasgow and Edinburgh, from 6am. South of the storm track, parts of Brittany in France faced gusts close to 90mph, and the Channel Islands expected severe gales of up to 80mph. Chief Met Office forecaster Neil Armstrong said this was the first stormy weather in southern Britain this season and that disruption was expected as it moved through, adding that with trees still in leaf, fallen branches and trees could obstruct roads and railways. Winds were expected to ease through Friday afternoon. Forecasters said a second named storm, Boelo, would bring more wind and rain over the weekend, reaching Northern Ireland and western Scotland on Saturday afternoon and lasting through Sunday.