‘Significant damage’ reported as storm moves through Britain
A powerful storm bringing strong gusts of wind as it moves across Britain has left thousands of customers in Wales and England without power, issued warnings of heavy rain and flooding and disrupted train journeys ahead of the New Year’s long weekend.
A possible tornado damaged some homes in Britain’s Manchester region, leaving more than 3,000 homes without power at one point Thursday, officials said.
Police and fire officials in the Manchester area said they received numerous reports late Wednesday of “significant damage” to properties battered during what may have been a small scale tornado. Firefighters worked through the night and early morning, officials said.
Officials in Tameside, England, a neighborhood west of Manchester, said Thursday that officers were clearing debris and fallen trees. Photos showed roofs blown off and a number of people driven from their homes. No injuries were reported, police said in a statement.
While tornadoes are not uncommon in Britain (on average about 30 are reported each year), they often touch down in sparsely populated areas or are short-lived and cause little to no damage, said Stephen Dixon, a spokesman for the British Meteorological Institute. Office. Britain has experienced more major storms in the period from September 1 to the end of December than in any other year since the country started naming storms in 2015, he added.
The storm, named Gerrit by the Met Office, also caused destruction in other parts of Britain. More than 800 homes in Wales were without power on Thursday. according to the National Grid. Train cancellations and delays were also recorded.
More bad weather is expected across Britain in the coming days, with strong winds and heavy rain, while another area of low pressure approaches from the west. said Mr. Dixon.
“It has been an uncertain period of weather for Britain, but it is not unheard of for us to see this kind of wind and rain,” he added.
According to the Met Office, this year was the hottest year in Britain, with temperatures rising due to climate change. December was unusually mild and wet, but not a record. Britain received 20 percent more rain than average, and northern England 40 percent more than average.
The average temperature in Britain this month was 1.6 degrees Celsius (4.9 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than average, with an average temperature of around 42 degrees Fahrenheit.
The hottest day of the year occurred in September, the fifth time this has happened in observational data, the Met Office said.