Man dies in Lancashire after tree falls on van during Storm Darragh
A man in his 40s has died during Storm Darragh on Saturday after a tree fell on to his van while he was driving on a dual carriageway, Lancashire police said.
In a statement on its website, Lancashire police said emergency services were called at around 9am on Saturday after the incident on the A59 at Longton near to the Lancashire police’s headquarters.
It added, that the man, in his 40s, was driving a Citroën van on the dual carriageway when the tree fell on to his vehicle causing serious injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene. An investigation is under way.
His next of kin have been informed and are being supported by a specially trained officer, said Lancashire police.
Detective Sgt Matt Davidson, of Lancashire police’s serious collision investigation unit said:
Very sadly this incident has resulted in the death of a man and our thoughts are with his loved ones at this time.”
An investigation is ongoing, and I would appeal to anyone who saw what happened or has any dashcam or mobile phone footage to please get in touch.”
Anyone with any information should call 101 quoting log 0368 of December 7th or you can email the serious collision investigation unit at SCIU@lancashire.police.uk.”
Key events
Speaking about Storm Darragh, Helen Hooker, flood and climate scientist at the University of Reading, said:
Recovery from the devastating flooding caused by Storm Bert had barely begun when Storm Darragh hit this weekend.
Storm clusters are common, but climate change is making rainfall more intense. When storms come one after another, the heavier rainfall lands on already wet ground, worsening flooding.
After a very wet autumn for England, and four named storms by the start of December that have already led to some floods, the UK is experiencing the kind of volatility of extreme weather that we expect to see more of as the world gets warmer.”
All train services on the North Wales Coast Line were suspended until further notice after a tree fell, Network Rail said.
Meanwhile, the owners of Llandudno pier in north Wales said on Facebook that the tourist attraction had taken an “absolute battering”, with an ice-cream unit “completely gone” and Penderyn Store, an “original 150-year-old unit”, tipped on its side.
Major incident declared in parts of Wales due to Storm Darragh disruption
A major incident has been declared in parts of Wales because of disruption from Storm Darragh, reports the PA news agency.
Dyfed-Powys police said it was continuing to experience high volumes of calls about fallen trees and poor driving conditions.
Supt Chris Neve said:
I have this morning declared a major incident for the counties of Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Powys, which means that together with our partners, we can call on the resources we need to respond to the challenges brought by Storm Darragh.
I’d like to reassure the public that at this time, Dyfed-Powys police is still able to respond to priority calls for service.
We have robust plans in place to respond to Storm Darragh, and we continue to work extremely closely with partner agencies to do so through local resilience arrangements and close working on the ground.
The safety of the public remains our top priority and I am urging everyone to take the warnings that have been issued seriously.
I’d like to thank our communities for their support at this time, and once again ask that you avoid unnecessary travel and follow all official advice to stay safe.”
Here are some of the latest Storm Darragh pictures coming in via the newswires:
An airport transfer bus crashed in Templepatrick, Northern Ireland, during high winds on Saturday. Photograph: Charles McQuillan/Getty ImagesPeople run as sand blows in front of the Blackpool Tower during Storm Darragh. Photograph: Hannah McKay/ReutersMotorists approach a tree blown down by the strong winds of Storm Darragh on Caswell Bay Road in Swansea this morning. Photograph: Phil Rees/REX/ShutterstockPeople in the windy and rainy weather in central London. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA
Small businesses near the Bristol Channel in Somerset told the PA news agency that tiles had flown off their buildings and they had faced delivery issues during Storm Darragh.
Eleanor Sedgwick, 23, a front-of-house supervisor at Scarlett’s in Clevedon, said the cafe did not open on Saturday morning because it was “too big of a risk”.
She told the PA news agency:
The years that I’ve worked here, I’ve never had to close because of the weather, apart from when it snowed.”
Sedgwick said four tiles fell off their roof but she felt the business had “got off quite lucky” compared to previous storms.
She added:
We’re very fortunate because we are the first sort of wall (the storm) hit, so it’s scary but I’m glad that everyone’s happy and safe.”
Ben England, 47, manager of the Tiffin cafe on the same beachfront, told the PA news agency:
Last night we put all the (outside) chairs under wraps and tried to make it as secure as possible.
Some of our deliveries didn’t make it through from Bristol, but I think we should be OK. I cancelled probably 80% of our staff that were coming in today, so it’s literally just the skeleton crew.”
Both Sedgwick and England told the PA news agency that they were surprised at the number of customers venturing out.
Damaged boarding around a property in Clevedon, Somerset, after a red wind warning was issued in the region for Storm Darragh. Photograph: Harry Stedman/PA
Storm Darragh has had “very significant effects in many parts of Wales, including on transport, energy infrastructure and property”, the Welsh first minister and her deputy have said.
A joint statement from Eluned Morgan and Huw Irranca-Davies added:
On behalf of everyone, we wish to thank the emergency services and first responders who have been out through the night in dreadful conditions to keep people safe.
Our thanks also to people throughout Wales who heeded the very serious red warning and emergency alert that was issued.
Your actions truly helped the emergency response, and we are grateful.
Work is ongoing to restore power to homes and reopen parts of the transport network, and our thoughts are with people who have suffered damage to their property and possessions from the storm.
Many warnings and alerts remain in place, in particular around rivers, and people should be vigilant as the effects of Storm Darragh may be felt for some days yet.”
Man dies in Lancashire after tree falls on van during Storm Darragh
A man in his 40s has died during Storm Darragh on Saturday after a tree fell on to his van while he was driving on a dual carriageway, Lancashire police said.
In a statement on its website, Lancashire police said emergency services were called at around 9am on Saturday after the incident on the A59 at Longton near to the Lancashire police’s headquarters.
It added, that the man, in his 40s, was driving a Citroën van on the dual carriageway when the tree fell on to his vehicle causing serious injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene. An investigation is under way.
His next of kin have been informed and are being supported by a specially trained officer, said Lancashire police.
Detective Sgt Matt Davidson, of Lancashire police’s serious collision investigation unit said:
Very sadly this incident has resulted in the death of a man and our thoughts are with his loved ones at this time.”
An investigation is ongoing, and I would appeal to anyone who saw what happened or has any dashcam or mobile phone footage to please get in touch.”
Anyone with any information should call 101 quoting log 0368 of December 7th or you can email the serious collision investigation unit at SCIU@lancashire.police.uk.”
As well as powerful gusts, Storm Darragh is also expected to bring heavy rain over the weekend, with 15 flood warnings in place in England on Saturday.
The Environment Agency said river flooding is likely in parts of Hereford.
An amber warning for rain is in place in Wales from 3am to 6pm on Saturday with heavy rain likely to lead to disruption to transport and infrastructure.
A yellow warning for rain is in place for Northern Ireland and Wales, both of which were badly affected by flooding during Storm Bert, as well as parts of Scotland from 3pm on Friday until noon on Saturday.
The Met Office said periods of heavy rain in south andmid-Wales through Saturday are likely to see 20-30mm fall in three to six hours. Totals of 80-90mm are possible by the evening, which is about half a month’s worth of rain in one day, the Met Office said.
The Met Office said 55mm of rain fell in parts of Cumbria since Friday afternoon, while 44mm was seen in south Wales.
ESB Networks said as of 11.30am, the number of homes, farms and businesses across Ireland without power as a result of the storm, had dropped to 325,000. At 7am, the number stood at approximately 395,000 customers. ESB Networks have said full restoration is expected to take several days.
Taoiseach Simon Harris thanked the crews for their work to restore power. In a post on X, Harris said:
This is major work & will take some time to be fully completed. Other agencies will assist where appropriate too & met this morning to plan that work.”
A spokesperson for Ireland’s ESB Networks spokesperson said Storm Darragh is similar in impact to Storm Ophelia in 2017, which left 385,000 customers without power at the peak but was more widespread across the country.
They said:
The impact is nationwide and there has been extensive damage to electricity infrastructure so far.
With Met Eireann wind warnings remaining in place for the entire country until this afternoon, further power outages can be expected from potentially damaging gusts.
ESB Networks crews and partner contractors have been deployed since early morning to assess the damage of Storm Darragh, make the network safe and restore electricity supply in challenging conditions.
All ESB Networks teams are mobilised and are continuing to closely monitor the storm impact on power supplies.
From our experience of previous significant weather events and due to the severity of Storm Darragh, we expect that power restoration will take multiple days.
Significant numbers of impacted customers will have their power restored throughout today but restoration efforts will take a number of days and it is likely that the areas worst-affected will take longer.
Given the scale of the damage and the dynamic nature of the event, we will be working to confirm restoration times for customers throughout the day and we will update PowerCheck.ie as information is confirmed.
Wind gusts have reached 93mph
The Met office has provided this update on wind speeds recorded around the UK so far:
All eight of London’s royal parks are closed today. On the royal parks X account, the below message was posted yesterday afternoon:
Due to severe wind gusts caused by Storm Darragh, all of the royal parks will be closed on Saturday 7 December. This closure includes all cafes, kiosks, park roads and cycleways.”
The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for strong winds across England and Wales on Sunday. The yellow weather warning will be in place from 6am on Sunday until 6pm.
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