Storm Agnes barrels into UK and Ireland

Storm Agnes barrelled into the UK and Ireland on Wednesday, with heavy rain and strong winds bearing down over much of the British Isles. The first named storm of the season brought gales of 127kph to the Welsh village of Capel Curig on Wednesday evening, with other areas – including Northern Ireland and Cornwall – seeing strong winds and heavy rain. The Met Office warned the storm would “rapidly intensify”, creating a danger to life warning that would remain in place until Thursday morning. The UK has experienced flooding, travel disruption and power cuts as a result. A woman had to be rescued from her car in County Derry, Northern Ireland, after it was trapped by floodwater, while an easyJet plane was unable to land in Belfast on Wednesday afternoon due to “winds gusting outside the limits of the aircraft”. Around 135 properties on the Isles of Scilly, off the south-west of England, experienced power outages for just under four hours earlier on Wednesday, according to National Grid. But the Met Office said the main impact on Britain has been strong winds. Meteorologist Dan Stroud said gusts are starting to ease in England and Wales. He said: “It's an improving picture across England and Wales but there's still some very strong gusts actually further north across Northern Ireland and Scotland. “But we're expecting the peak of the wind gusts in Storm Agnes to gradually ease during the overnight period.” Ireland, where Agnes first made landfall, saw flooding and travel disruption, with fallen trees blocking roads and flights and ferries also being affected. A roof was blown off a building in County Cork. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution had warned of “dangerous conditions” off the coasts. Clifden and Achill Island RNLI braved the storm to rescue a lone sailor in a boat located 10 miles west of Clare Island. The rescue organisation said: “Sea conditions at the time were very difficult and the lifeboat crews faced four-metre swells, driving rain and Force 8 winds out at sea.” Alerts triggered by Storm Agnes included a wind warning until 7am on Thursday, which was cancelled early on Thursday morning. The warning stretched across Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, as well as the south-west of England, the West Midlands and most of the North of England. Babet and Ciarán will be the next named storms of the season, which began in September. Future storms this season could include Walid. Storms are named when they are deemed to have the potential to cause medium to high impact in Britain, Ireland or the Netherlands.

Storm Agnes barrels into UK and Ireland

The first named storm of the season brought winds of 127kph