Storm Arwen: Third person dies as gale-force winds hit UK

A third person has died after Storm Arwen lashed parts of the UK with high winds, rain and snow.

The 35-year-old man died after his pick-up truck was struck by a falling tree in Aberdeenshire on Friday.

The same day a head teacher died after a tree fell onto his car in Antrim and another man also died after he was hit by a falling tree in Cumbria.

In the Aberdeenshire incident, police returned to their own van to find it had been crushed by another tree.

Gusts reached speeds of 98mph in Northumberland, and about 120 lorries became stuck in snow on the M62.

In Scotland, more than 100,000 people lost power.

A rare red warning for wind was issued by the Met Office on Friday across the east coast of Scotland and north-east England, with the highest speeds of 98mph recorded at Brizlee Wood in Northumberland.

Gusts overnight affected “a wide swathe of the United Kingdom”, the Met Office said, with buildings damaged and trees blown down.

Gusts of 87mph were recorded at Orlock Head, County Down, while Inverbervie on the north-east coast of Scotland saw speeds of 78mph, and Aberporth in Wales had gusts of up to 77mph.

The man who died when a falling tree hit his car in Northern Ireland was named as the principal of St Mary’s Primary School in Maghera, Francis Lagan.

Police in Cumbria said a man from Lancaster was killed after a tree fell on him in Ambleside on Friday evening.

The driver in Aberdeenshire was in a Nissan Navara on the B977 Dyce to Hatton of Fintray road when it was struck by a falling tree at about 17.45 GMT on Friday.

LNER advised customers not to travel north of York on Saturday or Sunday, saying they were unable to transport passengers between Newcastle and Edinburgh due to significant damage to the rail network.

ScotRail also withdrew services between Aberdeen, Perth and Inverness on Friday and there was disruption on other lines.

Passengers in Aberdeenshire were stuck on a train for 17 hours as Storm Arwen swept across Scotland.

Mark Swinglehurst, 62, told the BBC the train had reached Huntly at about 17:00 GMT on Friday before coming to a halt.

Asked about the experience, he said: “I don’t think it will get rave reviews on any sort of travel site.”

He said it had been cold but comfortable and although there was a lack of refreshments initially, staff managed to secure bacon rolls and pies for the stranded passengers during their ordeal.

Meanwhile, dozens of people – including an Oasis tribute band – were trapped by heavy snow at Britain’s highest pub.

On Friday night, about 3ft of snow fell at the Tan Hill Inn in the Yorkshire Dales, which is 1,732ft (528m) above sea level – meaning 60 people were unable to leave.

Beds in the pub’s lounge area were set up for the 20 guests who had not planned an overnight stay, but the pub said it had plenty of supplies to keep people warm and fed.

Sleet fell across parts of Scotland and northern England with some heavy snow on higher ground.

Part of the M62 near Rochdale between junctions 21 and 22 was closed, with 120 lorries stuck in the snow after one of them jack-knifed.

More than 100,000 homes in Scotland lost power in the storm, with Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks saying electricity had been restored to 55,000 by mid-afternoon on Saturday. A post on Twitter said 60,000 customers currently remained without supply.

Northern Powergrid reported outages for customers in north-east England, mainly in Northumberland, County Durham and Tyne and Wear, as well as people in the Midlands, Cheshire, Merseyside, Wales and south-west England.

By late afternoon on Saturday, the supplier tweeted it had restored power to 153,000 customers. However, a tweet urged those still without power on Saturday evening to “seek alternative accommodation with family and friends” where possible, adding that it was “likely” the supply would remain off throughout the night and into Sunday.

There were also power outages in Northern Ireland.

In Wales, reality TV show I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here cancelled all its weekend shows “owing to technical difficulties caused by extreme weather conditions in the area”. A compilation show featuring the best bits from previous shows will be broadcast instead.

The celebrity participants are understood to be safe inside the castle, with only essential crew on site, after the set was badly damaged by the storm, reports suggest.

Friday’s live show was also abandoned and pre-recorded footage broadcast in its place as a precautionary measure due to Storm Arwen.

In County Durham, the roof of the clubhouse came off at Chester-le-Street Town FC, landing on the pitch of the Northern League division two team.

Temperatures are set to fall with the storm and a yellow warning for ice, lasting until 11:00 on Sunday, has been issued for large stretches of northern and eastern Scotland, along with much of northern England.

In the early hours of Sunday, parts of north-west Scotland might receive more snow, while temperatures in Scotland and northern England could fall as low as -6C.

The UK Health Security Agency has issued a cold weather alert, which is in place from 18:00 on Friday until 15:00 on Monday.

The government body is advising people to check on older neighbours and relatives, especially those who live alone or have a serious illness.

In other developments:

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