Storm Elenor hits power supply in UK with winds of up to 80mph

03 Jan 2018

Power supply to thousands of UK homes has been disrupted as Storm Eleanor hit with winds of up to 80mph. Also forecasters have warned of more problems throughout the day today.

The Metrology Office has warned of the risk from flying debris, with the fifth-named storm of the season arriving last evening.

Southern parts of Northern Ireland and northern England, as also the southern fringes of Scotland overnight are under amber weather warning, while a yellow weather warning remains in place for all of England and Wales today.

The Thelwall Viaduct on the M6 has been placed under a 30mph speed limit on the Woodhead Pass over the Pennines.

According to Northern Ireland Electricity Networks, 10,000 properties had had their electric supply restored but another 12,000 would be without power overnight.

A spokesman said, "It's very difficult to make repairs because we have to think about the safety of our employees, most repairs will start at first light."

Several roads were closed due to fallen trees and motorists were warned to avoid all but essential travel.

Nearly 2,000 homes in England were hit by power cuts.

Sixty-five flood warnings were issued by The Environment Agency and dozens of alerts were sounded across the country.

The north Devon coast was hit by waves up to 42 feet, with the east and north of the county the worst hit.

The strong winds have uprooted hundreds of trees all over.

There are fears that the worse might be still to come as the high tides hit early this morning and the serious weather warning and flood alerts have been in place through the day.

Further down the coast, waves smashed into Porthminster in St Ives, Cornwall.