Brighton, ENGLAND — Southern Britain was battered Monday by a
powerful storm with hurricane-force winds that caused widespread delays
on the nation's roads and trains, and threatened severe disruptions to
airports.
The Met Office said that winds reached 99 mph near the Isle of Wight at around 6:00 a.m. local time and the Environment Agency issued dozens of flood alerts for a large swathe of England and Wales.
Exposed coastlines in Cornwall, Devon, East Sussex, Hampshire and Kent experienced particularly rough conditions with reports of hundreds of downed trees. Thousand of homes — as many as 220,000, reports said — were without power across the southern, coastal parts of the country Monday.
Police said one teenager was killed after a tree fell on a home in Kent and a Hertfordshire man in his 50s was killed when a tree fell on a car, but there were few other reports of injuries. The high winds and heavy rains forced the cancellation of at least 130 flights at Heathrow airport and authorities urged the public to take precautions and "be prepared."
Ahead of the storm's landfall late Sunday night a 14-year-old boy was feared drowned after being swept out to sea near the town of Newhaven, in West Sussex.
Local media have dubbed the storm — one of the most severe to hit the British Isles in decades — "St. Jude" after the patron saint of lost causes. The saint is traditionally celebrated on Oct. 28.
SOURCE : http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2013/10/28/uk-st-jude-storm/3284557/
The Met Office said that winds reached 99 mph near the Isle of Wight at around 6:00 a.m. local time and the Environment Agency issued dozens of flood alerts for a large swathe of England and Wales.
Exposed coastlines in Cornwall, Devon, East Sussex, Hampshire and Kent experienced particularly rough conditions with reports of hundreds of downed trees. Thousand of homes — as many as 220,000, reports said — were without power across the southern, coastal parts of the country Monday.
Police said one teenager was killed after a tree fell on a home in Kent and a Hertfordshire man in his 50s was killed when a tree fell on a car, but there were few other reports of injuries. The high winds and heavy rains forced the cancellation of at least 130 flights at Heathrow airport and authorities urged the public to take precautions and "be prepared."
Ahead of the storm's landfall late Sunday night a 14-year-old boy was feared drowned after being swept out to sea near the town of Newhaven, in West Sussex.
Local media have dubbed the storm — one of the most severe to hit the British Isles in decades — "St. Jude" after the patron saint of lost causes. The saint is traditionally celebrated on Oct. 28.
SOURCE : http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2013/10/28/uk-st-jude-storm/3284557/
