Storm Ciarán: Weather warnings and live updates as east coasts prepares for heavy rain

While the worst of the high winds have moved on, rain is still on the forecast for some areas of the UK.

The Met Office has placed a yellow warning from 6am until 6pm on the eastern coast of Scotland.

... but the threat of flooding remains high in the south of England as the UK feels the after-effects of the devastating Storm Ciaran.

Almost 90 flood warnings are in place with more than 235 flood alerts stretching up through the country, after the south coast and the Channel Islands were battered with heavy rain and gusts of up to 100mph on Thursday.

The extreme weather looks set to bring downpours and strong winds to Scotland and parts of northern England on Friday.

Nearly 150,000 homes were left without power and by 4pm on Thursday, around 11,300 properties still had no electricity.

Some 135,700 had been reconnected, the Energy Networks Association (ENA) said.

A spokesperson said: “By working together in very challenging conditions, so far today network operators have reconnected 92% of customers affected by storm-related power cuts.

“While difficult conditions remain, with violent winds forecast until the end of the day, teams from across the country are working together to continue to reconnect customers where it is safe to do so.”

A Met Office yellow weather warning is in place in eastern Scotland, with the threat of difficult driving conditions, flooding and delays or cancellations to train and bus services, and a small chance of fast flowing or deep floodwater.

Southern Water said Storm Ciarán has caused a major incident at their site which supplies water in Southampton.

The Southeastern Railway said Storm Ciarán is causing severe disruption to their services and passengers are advised to plan their journey ahead.

Ports of Jersey said Jersey Airport would remain closed to commercial flights into Friday because of extensive infrastructure, equipment and system failures.

“Ports of Jersey engineers have been assessing the damage caused by Storm Ciaran and detailed inspections of the airport estate have identified extensive infrastructure, equipment and system failures,” it said.

“We are working to remedy the faults as quickly as possible, but until the work is completed and the airport is safe, secure and compliant, it has to remain closed to commercial operations.

“We are striving to open the airport at 2pm tomorrow and a further announcement at midday will confirm whether this is possible.

“The airport remains open for emergencies and medical transfers. The harbour is functioning as normal.”

Jersey Chief Minister Kristina Moore has described Storm Ciarán as the 'worst storm' the island has experienced in decades.

Some children may not be able to get back into their classrooms until Monday after Storm Ciaran battered the south of England and the Channel Islands with gusts of up to 100mph and heavy rain.

Damage to properties in Jersey meant some residents had to evacuate their homes and seek refuge in a hotel, with one woman saying hailstones “bigger than a golf ball” had broken her windows.

The storm caused travel chaos and the AA, which had a large number of callouts in southern England, said it had “rescued 84 customers stuck in flood so far today, with thousands more impacted by the weather”.

By Thursday afternoon National Grid said 9,000 properties were without power in the South West.

Hundreds of schools were closed because of the risk to pupils in the south of England, but Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Local Resilience Forum (LRF) downgraded its major incident on Thursday afternoon as the area had not experienced the “full extent of the forecast weather”.

Assistant Chief Constable Paul Bartolomeo, LRF chairman, said: “While we have seen flooding of properties and roads, power outages and disruption to the highways networks caused by the wind and rain, we have thankfully not seen the full extent of the forecast weather, and we are now in a position to stand down the major incident response.”

The Government of Jersey said schools will close for a second day on Friday as they aim to get pupils back in classrooms on Monday.

In a statement it said: “Schools set to remain closed tomorrow to help assess damage and reopen roads. Some non-urgent health appointments have been cancelled.”

The Government of Jersey added that “minor” damage was caused to a hospital including “some minor water ingress” and solar shading blown off the building.

In Dorset, firefighters evacuated 70 people from 198 caravans at Freshwater Holiday Park in Burton Bradstock, near Bradport, with some being taken to dry land by boat.

Amid continued heavy rain on Thursday afternoon the Environment Agency said flooding was expected in 82 areas, most on the south coast.

A further 197 alerts were in place for possible flooding across England.

Natural Resources Wales said Kiln Park caravan park in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, has already suffered flooding and the owners have asked guests to leave the site.

There was a severe flood warning in force for the River Ritec at Tenby.

The Hampshire and Isle of Wight multi-agency response to Storm Ciarán is no longer classing it as a major incident.

The Local Resilience Forum has downgraded the 'Major Incident' response across the region for Storm Ciarán. It appears that the south west and the Kent coast are seeing the more extreme weather - that's where the amber wind warnings are now

The seafront in Southsea has taken a battering https://www.nationalworld.com/news/weather/storm-ciaran-damage-southsea-promenade-concrete-slabs-loose-debris-beach-road-4395234

Damage in Eastbourne today

https://www.nationalworld.com/news/weather/storm-ciaran-when-end-met-office-rain-and-wind-weather-warnings-4395102

The Environment Agency has issued 54 warnings where flooding is expected, and an amber weather warning is in place with winds expected to reach 70mph to 80mph.

This is in Devon

Cornwall...

A Bexhill resident suggested Storm Ciaran has created “the strongest wind we have ever had” in the East Sussex town.

Photo editor Nicola Pharoah posted a video on social media of the impact of Storm Ciaran on her garden.

She told the PA news agency: “This is the strongest wind we have ever had – it’s not stopping either.

“The wind started getting very strong at about 6am and now we getting huge gusts every 30 or 40 seconds.

“There is a permanent dull hum in the background from the sea that’s at the bottom of our road, and garden just looks wild!”

She said the Bexhill Sixth Form College, where her children study, has been closed with all lessons moving online.

The Met Office's recorded winds so far

The Met Office has updated its amber wind warning for the south of England.

The warning has now been restricted to East Sussex and Kent, with officials saying that the higher winds are expected to be "slightly further south" than first forecast.

It remains in place from 6am until 12pm today.

Travel disruption was expected when Storm Ciarán made landfall, with roads likely to be flooded and rail lines impacted in some areas.

Rail services in Shropshire have been impacted, with West Midlands Railway confirming that a fallen tree had paused services between Wolverhampton, Telford and Shrewsbury. Read more about the story on our sister site The Shropshire Star.

Likewise, commuters in southern England have been recommended to work from home where possible.

A spokesperson for Southern Railway said: "If lines are closed due to the storm, it's unlikely that we will be able to provide rail replacement transport. We expect road conditions to be very poor and equally affected by the storm."