UK faces 'winter of greater flooding', PM Andy Burnham warns amid storms
Two named storms are disrupting the UK this weekend, with thousands of homes without power, as Burnham warned of a worsening flood risk this winter.
The UK could face "a winter of greater flooding", Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Friday, as two named storms brought disruption across the country.
Storm Austen, the first named storm of the season, hit the south-west of England with a 76mph gust recorded at St Mary's Airport on the Isles of Scilly on Friday morning. National Grid said more than 16,000 homes in the region had lost power by late morning, with roughly a third of those customers registered as needing extra support because of age or disability. Engineers had restored power to more than 12,000 properties by 8am, a National Grid spokesman said.
The Met Office had an amber wind warning in force for Cornwall, Devon and the Isles of Scilly from 1am to 10am on Friday. More than 20 schools in Cornwall closed for the day and more than 50 opened late, while the county council reported around 100 incidents for its highways teams, most involving fallen trees. Loganair cancelled flights to and from Jersey, Bristol, Exeter and Southampton, and seven flights to Gatwick were cancelled because of weather in the Channel Islands.
A second storm, Boelo, is forecast to bring an amber wind warning from 9pm on Saturday for 24 hours across Scotland, the north coast of Northern Ireland, and Cumbria and Northumberland, with yellow warnings for the rest of mainland Scotland, the Western Isles, Orkney and the far north of England from Saturday midday to Sunday evening. The Met Office forecast widespread gusts of 55-65mph, reaching 70-80mph on exposed coasts.
Burnham made the comment at a resilience summit held to draw lessons from the summer's record wildfires. He said ministers were not playing catch-up on civil preparedness but were holding ongoing talks about resilience, and that recognising such risks meant taking action ahead of time. He confirmed he had stockpiled beans, Twiglets and soup at home as part of the government's new household-preparedness guidance.
The government's 'Be Ready' campaign recommends 15 items for households to stockpile, including bottled water, non-perishable food and hygiene products, enough to last three days while support reaches those in need, the Scotsman reported.
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What we know
- Official · Prime Minister Andy Burnham Andy Burnham warned the UK could face a winter of greater flooding amid two named storms, Austen and Boelo.
- Official · National Grid More than 16,000 homes in south-west England lost power during Storm Austen, National Grid said; over 12,000 had been restored by 8am.
- 2+ outlets · Evening Standard, Manchester Evening News A 76mph gust was recorded at St Mary's Airport, Isles of Scilly, on Friday morning.
- Official · Met Office Storm Boelo is forecast to bring an amber wind warning from Saturday evening across Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England.
- Official · Cornwall County Council, Loganair More than 20 Cornwall schools closed and several flights were cancelled because of Storm Austen.
How each fact is established: Verified checked by an ECTV editorOfficial stated by an official body2+ outlets reported independently by two or more news organisations1 outlet reported by a single news organisation so farUnconfirmed claimed or reportedHow we label facts
Why it matters for Europe
The government's new household-preparedness campaign, urging people to stockpile food and essentials for multi-day emergencies, was launched this week alongside the resilience summit. Burnham said such events are becoming more common, prompting the push for public readiness ahead of further storms.
National Grid said its engineers were working across the affected areas to repair damage and restore supply as quickly and safely as possible, and urged anyone who sees a fallen power line or damaged equipment to stay clear and report it rather than approach it.
Sources
Reported by 4 reports from 4 independent outlets in 2 countries.
- Evening Standard: UK faces ‘winter of greater flooding’, Burnham warns amid severe weather
- Evening Standard: UK faces ‘winter of greater flooding’, Burnham warns amid severe weather
- Evening Standard: UK faces ‘winter of greater flooding’, Burnham warns amid severe weather
- Manchester Evening News: Andy Burnham issues winter weather warning as storms batter UK
- Manchester Evening News: Andy Burnham issues update after government's new emergency stockpile advice
Source balance
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Questions and answers
- What did Andy Burnham warn about?
- He said the UK could face a winter of greater flooding as storms Austen and Boelo bring disruption.
- How many homes lost power?
- More than 16,000 homes in south-west England were without power during Storm Austen, National Grid said.
- What is Storm Boelo?
- A second storm forecast to bring an amber wind warning across Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England from Saturday evening.
This article was written with AI assistance from 7 verified reports and checked under the ECTV editorial policy. Spotted an error? Request a correction.