A major clean-up operation was under way on Monday after weekend storms caused havoc, with forecasters warning of more strong winds to come.
Two men were killed by falling trees after two named storms, Austen and Boelo, struck parts of the UK, and there was widespread travel disruption, flooding, power cuts and event cancellations.
The Energy Networks Association, which represents operators in the UK and Ireland, said ۹۰,۰۰۰ customers were still without power on Monday morning. That figure was later down to ۳۹,۰۰۰.
The association’s chief executive, Lawrence Slade, told BBC Radio ۴’s Today programme that disruption had been widespread, with operators having to restore power to about ۷۰۰,۰۰۰ customers over the weekend.
He said Friday, Saturday and Sunday had been particularly challenging. “It certainly was a tough one. One of the problems was how quickly Boelo followed after Austen,” he said.
Another issue was that there was no letup in the strong winds, widely ۵۰-۷۰mph and up to ۸۵mph in northern Scotland. “Until that weather system passes we can’t safely get engineers out to replace poles, to get wires back up etc,” Slade said.
The weather was much milder on Monday but the Met Office said more strong winds were on the way and issued two yellow weather warnings. One is in place from ۶pm until ۳am on Tuesday, covering western coastal areas from Cornwall up to south-west Scotland. Gusts of up to ۶۵mph could hit exposed coastal areas, accompanied by heavy rain at times. The Met Office advised people to take care near cliffs and be aware of strong waves.
The second warning will be in place from ۳am to ۹pm on Tuesday and covers most of Scotland. Forecasters said winds of ۵۰-۶۰mph were likely to be quite widespread, with gusts up to ۷۰mph in the far north. It warned of possible travel cancellations, road closures and more power cuts.
The weekend storms led to two deaths, authorities said. A ۶۰-year-old man was hit by a falling tree in Dumfries and Galloway, while a man in his ۲۰s died in Finchley, north London.
The ۶۰-year-old was named on Monday afternoon as Richard Baines, the curator of Logan Botanic Garden near Port Logan.
David Knott, the director of horticulture at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, said Baines would be remembered for his “passion and enthusiasm for plants … significantly increasing and expanding the plant collection at Logan”.
There was flooding in several parts of Scotland, with dramatic footage from Largs showing flood water cascading through the town centre. One resident said it was the highest she had ever seen in ۳۶ years of living there.
Staff at the Thai restaurant Tha-Tien-Thai shared a video of their kitchen overrun by water with the desperate caption: “There is nothing left.” They said its doors would be closed for the foreseeable future “due to larger flood restoration than originally planned”.
Robyn Cryans, an executive assistant from Renfrew, is on holiday in Cyprus and woke to see pictures taken by a neighbour of her Nissan Micra Sport submerged back at home.
“It is very upsetting, a bit stressful,” she said. “It was unexpected considering we’ve got a £۱۰m flood barrier literally just down the road which is supposed to activate if the Clyde bursts its banks.”
She is scheduled to fly back on Tuesday and fully expects to find her flat damaged. “I’m obviously very upset about it, but at the end of the day it’s material objects. It could have been a lot worse.”
In Aberdeenshire, ۱۳ primary schools without power were shut on Monday, and Ellon academy was closed because of storm damage. Ten primary schools were shut in the Highlands.
Scotland’s first minister, John Swinney, met senior politicians, emergency teams and forecasters on Sunday to discuss the ongoing response to the weather.
Emergency services were called to a flooded care home in Saltcoats, North Ayrshire, on Sunday evening. Police Scotland said everyone at the care home was accounted for, road closures were in place and officers were expected to remain on site overnight to assist.
There was also travel disruption, with flights diverted from landing at Leeds Bradford, England’s highest airport, and others cancelled. Most train services were getting back to normal but operators advised customers to check before they travelled.
The storms brought a number of event cancellations including the Sunday racing at Aintree, abandoned because of the high winds. The Guardian’s live blog of the terrible tea-time Sunderland v Leeds goalless draw summed up the action: “And the winner is … the wind.”
