Wind speeds top 90mph as Storm Darragh lashes Wales

Gusts of more than 90mph have been recorded in Wales as Storm Darragh sweeps across the country.

The Met Office has confirmed that wind speeds of up to 93mph were recorded overnight in Capel Curig in north Wales, with 92mph in Aberdaron on the Llyn Peninsula.

Winds in other parts of Wales topped 80mph, while gusts of up to 77mph were recorded in Northern Ireland and south-west England, the forecaster said.

Tom Morgan of the Met Office said that as of 7am the storm was at its peak, but higher wind speed totals are “possible” later in the morning.

The centre of the storm, meaning winds are calmer, was across north-east England.

Thousands of people in Wales, Northern Ireland and England were left without power.

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Power cuts

The Energy Networks Association said around 86,000 homes were without power as of 9am.

A spokesperson said around 385,000 customers were reconnected overnight, with more than 1,000 engineers ready to be deployed.

National Grid said that as of 8am more than 55,000 customers were off supply across the South West of England, south Wales and the west Midlands due to Storm Darragh. It said the majority of these were in Wales.

National Highways said both the Prince of Wales Bridge, M4 and the Severn Bridge, M48, were closed due to strong winds.

Network Rail Wales said owing to a fallen tree, all train services on the North Wales Coast Line are suspended until further notice.

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'Superb effort'

A Cardiff resident described a “superb effort” from the council that cleared a tree that fell during Storm Darragh, breaking windows and damaging the wall around a property.

Stuart Cox, 64, told the PA news agency that an approximately 50ft mature tree on Cathedral Road in the Welsh capital fell into his next door neighbour’s garden in the early hours of Saturday.

“It broke one window two doors down and destroyed next door’s gate. The only damage to ours was the front wall was forced sideways, making the wall unstable and unable to shut the gate,” the accountant said.

“The council teams moved to us, after clearing other trees, around 5.30am and were all done by 8am. Superb effort.”

The Met Office issued the red weather warning – the most serious type – on Friday for wind, meaning dangerous weather is expected and people are urged to take action to keep themselves and others safe.

The warning, which has led to the cancellation of events including Christmas attractions, is in place from 3am to 11am on Saturday.

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Damaging winds

It warned of “damaging winds” with gusts of 90mph possible over the coasts and hills of West and South Wales.

Forecasters say the strongest winds will begin to ease from late morning.

A separate amber warning covering a larger stretch of the west coast of the UK, stretching from southern Scotland to Cornwall, and Northern Ireland is in place from 1am until 9pm.

Flying debris and falling trees could pose a risk to life while large waves and beach material could be thrown on to coastal roads and seafronts.

There could also be damage to buildings and homes, with roofs blown off and power lines brought down, as well as power cuts affecting other services such as mobile phone coverage.

Storm Darragh is also expected to bring heavy rain over the weekend, with National Resources Wales issuing 17 flood warnings and close to 50 flood alerts.

⚠️There are now 17 Flood Warnings in place across Wales ⚠️

Our flood warning pages on our website are updated every 15 minutes on our website https://t.co/Qls5JwzxSn

Find out how to prepare for flooding: https://t.co/RYxHJzRijJ pic.twitter.com/YtoTtACiMc

— Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru | Natural Resources Wales (@NatResWales) December 7, 2024