LONDON: London’s famed Royal Parks shut their gates on Saturday and road, rail and sea travel faced major disruption as a storm walloped the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia with heavy rain and high winds.
More than 200,000 properties in Ireland and Northern Ireland were left without power, and a man died in Letterkenny, northwest Ireland, on Friday in what police called a weather-related incident, without giving details.
Britain’s Met Office weather agency said a gust of 154 kph was recorded on Friday on the island of Tiree off Scotland’s west coast. In Scotland, many ferry services were suspended and roads and railway lines blocked by fallen trees.
Fraser Wilson of Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks said engineers were working to restore power to about 62,000 customers.
“We expect because of the extent of damage to the network and conditions we are still going to be facing today that this will take some time,” he told the BBC. “This storm is not over by any means.”
In London, Hyde Park, Regent’s Park, Richmond Park and several other green spaces that are a magnet for locals and tourists were shut all day Saturday because of “severe wind gusts.”
