Six severe weather warnings: 'Stay away from the coast'

As thousands of homes are left without power, the public was told that scores of trains were cancelled.

12:31 05 February 2014

The latest series of Atlantic storms are expected to create fresh travel chaos on railways and trains; they are also expected to result in more flooding. 

 

So far, the Environment Agency has issued six severe flood warnings after winds of up to more than 90mph have been recorded. The flood, which is considered to pose ‘a danger to life’ will affect all in south-west England, from Weymouth in Dorset to Land’s End in Cornwall. The Agency is urging the public to avoid the coast. It said "stay away from sea fronts and beaches as conditions represent a significant risk to life"

 

As for areas without power, a spokesman for Western Power Distribution has assured the public that they are doing everything to help the residents. He said that 200 engineers were deployed and had been working through the night to repair damages. 

 

The spokesman was quoted as saying: "Over the last 12 hours or so, 44,000 customers in the south-west have been off supply at some point but we've managed to restore it to all but 5,000 homes. It's an extremely exceptional event.”

 

Meanwhile, a forecaster at the Met Office said: "The band of rain which is moving across from the south-west will continue its journey north-eastwards during the course of the night, with fragmented outbreaks of rain – still pretty heavy – following on behind.

 

"It will continue to be very windy. We can expect to see gusts of 60mph-70mph quite widely across parts of South Wales, Devon and Cornwall, Somerset, Dorset."