Storm Barra UK: strong winds and snow smash into UK causing thousands of powercuts in Scotland

While the worst of Storm Barra has cleared, the Met Office has warned of heavy rain in its aftermath
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Storm Barra has disrupted power supplies in parts of Scotland and Ireland after it brought strong winds and heavy snow to many parts of the UK.

The Met Office issued yellow weather warnings for wind and snow ahead of the storm, which hit on Tuesday (8 December).

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It came just days after the previous categorised storm - Storm Arwen - which lashed the UK with 100mph winds.

But what was the scale of the damage caused by Storm Barra?

Snow and wind from Storm Barra knocked out power supplies in Northern Ireland and Scotland (image: Getty Images)Snow and wind from Storm Barra knocked out power supplies in Northern Ireland and Scotland (image: Getty Images)
Snow and wind from Storm Barra knocked out power supplies in Northern Ireland and Scotland (image: Getty Images)

What happened during Storm Barra?

Storm Barra has struck the UK and Ireland during rush hour on Tuesday 7 December.

Gusts of more than 70mph hit Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England.

More than 9,000 homes were left without power in Scotland by the storm.

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Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said it had connected most of them by Wednesday morning, with around 1,000 customers still said to be without power across the north of Scotland as of 8am today.

In Ireland, which took the brunt of the storm, about 59,000 homes and businesses had had their power knocked out.

Schools in Llanelli in Wales and Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland were forced to close because of the weather.

(graphic: Kim Mogg)(graphic: Kim Mogg)
(graphic: Kim Mogg)

What happened on Wednesday?

Dozens of flood warnings have been issued across the UK for Wednesday.

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The Environment Agency has 11 flood warnings in place for England at locations including Hartlepool and Sunderland in the North East, Bournemouth and Weymouth in the South, and part of the Cumbrian coast.

Another 66 flood alerts, for areas where flooding is possible, have also been issued across the country.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has sent 11 flood alerts and five warnings for areas in the north-east and south-west of Scotland.

Natural Resources Wales has also issued 12 flood warnings and 11 alerts, mainly covering coastal areas.

Storm Barra saw gusts reach 86mph in Wales on Tuesday (image: AFP/Getty Images)Storm Barra saw gusts reach 86mph in Wales on Tuesday (image: AFP/Getty Images)
Storm Barra saw gusts reach 86mph in Wales on Tuesday (image: AFP/Getty Images)

Aftermath of Storm Arwen

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Storm Barra hit the UK 10 days after the previous categorised storm - Storm Arwen.

More than a million households had their power supply knocked out by the storm, but all of them have now been reconnected.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) restored power to all of the Scottish homes affected by outages on Sunday, while all the affected properties in England were reconnected on Tuesday - 11 days after the storm hit the UK.

On Sunday (5 December) Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng visited the North East to survey the damage caused by Storm Arwen.

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He told the PA news agency: “I think we can make the system a lot more resilient.

“We will have a review, we will see if the distributor companies have enough infrastructure, we may even have enforcement action if necessary.”

Energy regulator Ofgem has warned it will take enforcement action against the network companies who failed to restore power to customers quickly enough.

It has also agreed with firms to lift the £700 cap on compensation which could be offered to those stuck without power.

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The change will allow those affected to claim £70 for each 12-hour period they have no electricity, after an initial £70 for the first 48 hours of any cut.

Additional reporting by PA

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