Storm Franklin has become the third storm following Dudley and Eunice to hit the UK in a week. Since the storm naming system began in 2015, this is the first time that three named storms have been recorded in the country within seven days of each other.
In south Manchester, hundreds of families were encouraged to evacuate their homes on Sunday night. With 460 properties at risk of flooding, The Guardian reports that evacuation centres have been set up in the surrounding suburbs.
An amber warning has been issued across Northern Ireland for very strong winds that could cause a ‘risk to life’. As reported by Sky News this morning at 7:30am, gusts of 97-110km/h are predicted inland with gusts of 130km/h expected on the coast. The rest of the nation is to expect gusts of 97km/h.
There are two severe flood warnings which were issued by The Environment Agency for the River Mersey, West Didsbury and Northenden. This is in addition to another 183 flood warnings for rivers across England and 172 less severe flood warnings. On this past Sunday evening, in South Yorkshire, the River Don burst its banks and people have been warned to stay away from the unsafe ‘fast-flowing’ water.
There are about 15 700 households in the UK without power, affecting about 56 000 people, Sky News reports. UK Power Networks warned on Sunday evening that Franklin was expected to bring high winds that would make the restoration process more difficult. On Friday, the UK reached a record number of 1.4 million power cuts across the country, which lasted over 24 hours.
Ross Easton, who is the director of external affairs at the Energy Networks Association (ENA), gave advice to people who have been without power for a fourth day: ‘First and foremost, check on friends, family, and neighbours to make sure they’re safe and well, and if you have any concerns or need extra support, call your local network operator.’
Train operators such as South Western Railway have warned passengers not to travel today. In South Yorkshire, the Rotherham Central rail station has been closed until Tuesday because severe flooding made operations impossible.
Storm Eunice also destroyed part of the roof of London’s O2 arena, which will be closed until Friday, when a UB40 concert is still expected to go ahead as planned.
Met Office meteorologist Becky Mitchell, said that there would ‘definitely be some impact’ from Storm Franklin but it would not be ‘as severe’ as Eunice because the strongest winds would be along the coastlines.
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