86,000 homes in England, Scotland and Wales without power
The Energy Networks Association said 86,000 homes in England, Scotland and Wales are without power.
A spokesperson said about 385,000 customers have been reconnected overnight, with more than 1,000 engineers ready to be deployed.
Key events
As well as powerful gusts, Storm Darragh is also expected to bring heavy rain over the weekend, with 15 flood warnings in place in England on Saturday.
The Environment Agency said river flooding is likely in parts of Hereford.
An amber warning for rain is in place in Wales from 3am to 6pm on Saturday with heavy rain likely to lead to disruption to transport and infrastructure.
A yellow warning for rain is in place for Northern Ireland and Wales, both of which were badly affected by flooding during Storm Bert, as well as parts of Scotland from 3pm on Friday until noon on Saturday.
The Met Office said periods of heavy rain in south and mid-Wales through Saturday are likely to see 20-30mm fall in three to six hours. Totals of 80-90mm are possible by the evening, which is about half a month’s worth of rain in one day, the Met Office said.
The Met Office said 55mm of rain fell in parts of Cumbria since Friday afternoon, while 44mm was seen in south Wales.
ESB Networks said as of 11.30am, the number of homes, farms and businesses across Ireland without power as a result of the storm, had dropped to 325,000. At 7am, the number stood at approximately 395,000 customers. ESB Networks have said full restoration is expected to take several days.
Taoiseach Simon Harris thanked the crews for their work to restore power. In a post on X, Harris said:
This is major work & will take some time to be fully completed. Other agencies will assist where appropriate too & met this morning to plan that work.”
A spokesperson for Ireland’s ESB Networks spokesperson said Storm Darragh is similar in impact to Storm Ophelia in 2017, which left 385,000 customers without power at the peak but was more widespread across the country.
They said:
The impact is nationwide and there has been extensive damage to electricity infrastructure so far.
With Met Eireann wind warnings remaining in place for the entire country until this afternoon, further power outages can be expected from potentially damaging gusts.
ESB Networks crews and partner contractors have been deployed since early morning to assess the damage of Storm Darragh, make the network safe and restore electricity supply in challenging conditions.
All ESB Networks teams are mobilised and are continuing to closely monitor the storm impact on power supplies.
From our experience of previous significant weather events and due to the severity of Storm Darragh, we expect that power restoration will take multiple days.
Significant numbers of impacted customers will have their power restored throughout today but restoration efforts will take a number of days and it is likely that the areas worst-affected will take longer.
Given the scale of the damage and the dynamic nature of the event, we will be working to confirm restoration times for customers throughout the day and we will update PowerCheck.ie as information is confirmed.
Wind gusts have reached 93mph
The Met office has provided this update on wind speeds recorded around the UK so far:
All eight of London’s royal parks are closed today. On the royal parks X account, the below message was posted yesterday afternoon:
Due to severe wind gusts caused by Storm Darragh, all of the royal parks will be closed on Saturday 7 December. This closure includes all cafes, kiosks, park roads and cycleways.”
The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for strong winds across England and Wales on Sunday. The yellow weather warning will be in place from 6am on Sunday until 6pm.
Here are some more images via the newswires:
The Guardian community team want to hear from you. How have you been affected by Storm Darragh? Have you lost power or had plans disrupted? What impact has the storm had?
If you are 18 or over, You can share your experience (anonymously if you wish) with the team here:
Also, please note:
Though we’d like to hear from you, your safety and security are most important. When recording, or sharing your content with us, please put your welfare and the welfare of others first. Extreme weather events can be very unpredictable and carry very real risks.
Andy Hunter
A 15-year-old from Australia used all his savings to attend the final league derby at Goodison Park, only for the match to be postponed four hours before kick-off.
The young Everton fan from Sydney, known only as Mackenzie, asked his Liverpool-born mum at Easter whether he could return to England for the historic occasion.
His mum, Rita, told Radio Merseyside earlier this week:
When we came back, he said it was his dream to go to an Everton v Liverpool game at Goodison Park. I said you’ve got no chance, mate. We’ve just come back from England and there’s no way I can save that money in the time we’ve got.
He saved up the money, used all his savings and said two weeks ago: ‘I’d really like to go mum – will you let me go?’ I said I can’t stop you if you’ve got the money. We’re very proud of him.”
The teenager added:
Everyone says I’m a lucky charm.”
Mackenzie, who is staying with an aunt in England, attended Everton’s 4-0 win against Wolves on Wednesday but his dream of seeing a derby at Goodison was shattered on Saturday morning.
The 245th Merseyside derby was due to be the last league meeting between Everton and Liverpool at Goodison after 130 years, with Everton relocating to Bramley-Moore dock next season. But the fixture was postponed at 8.30am on Saturday due to the impact of Storm Darragh.
Travel disruption in Scotland as Met Office warn of ‘nasty conditions’ this afternoon
Storm Darragh has also brought travel disruption to Scotland, with wind and rain battering much of the country, reports the PA news agency
The train line between Ayr and Girvan was shut after a large tree fell on to the tracks, while snow gates were closed on roads in the north-east of Scotland.
An amber wind warning is in place for parts of Dumfries and Galloway and South Ayrshire until 9pm on Saturday. Heavy wind and rain are also expected along the east coast of Scotland into Saturday night.
Scotrail said services on the line between Girvan and Ayr were disrupted by the tree on the tracks, with Network Rail sending a chainsaw team to the site.
There have been snow gate closures on the A93 and A939 roads, while the southbound A1 was restricted at Eyemouth due to a fallen tree.
CalMac also warned of possible disruptions to ferry sailings on the west coast, reports the PA news agency.
Met Office presenter, Clare Nasir, told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme that winds on the east coast could peak at around 60mph on Saturday evening.
She said:
It will make for some very nasty conditions this afternoon.”
Transport secretary, Fiona Hyslop, said earlier:
The Met Office is warning us to expect another period of disruption this weekend, with Storm Darragh set to bring strong winds to the south of Scotland. The south-west in particular will likely see the worst of the conditions.
High winds will bring challenges for the trunk road network, so travellers should make sure they plan their journey in advance, drive to the conditions and follow Police Scotland travel advice.
The Traffic Scotland website offers people the latest information on the trunk roads and the Traffic Scotland X page is updated regularly.
You can also find details of wind-based closures for the bridges on the trunk road network, allowing you to check if your planned route is available.”
A Cardiff resident described a “superb effort” from a council that cleared a tree that fell during Storm Darragh, breaking windows and damaging the wall around a property.
Stuart Cox, 64, told the PA news agency that an approximately 50ft mature tree on Cathedral Road in the Welsh capital fell into his nextdoor neighbour’s garden in the early hours of Saturday.
“It broke one window two doors down and destroyed next door’s gate. The only damage to ours was the front wall was forced sideways, making the wall unstable and unable to shut the gate,” the accountant said.
“The council teams moved to us, after clearing other trees, around 5.30am and were all done by 8am. Superb effort.”
Almost 400,000 customers left without power in Ireland, say ESB Networks
Almost 400,000 customers have been left without power in Ireland after the country was battered by Storm Darragh, reports the PA news agency.
Parts of Ireland came under red weather warnings for wind overnight while an orange warning was due to expire at 10am. A status yellow warning is to remain in place until 3pm.
Major disruption has been caused to travel with some scheduled flights at Dublin airport cancelled, while there have been a number of delays and cancellations to bus and train services.
ESB Networks said as of 7am, approximately 395,000 homes, farms and businesses across the country were without power as a result of the storm.
A spokesperson said their crews and partner contractors began mobilising from early on Saturday morning to assess the damage, make the network safe and restore electricity supply where it was safe to do so.
“With Met Eireann, wind warnings remaining in place for the entire country until this afternoon, further power outages can be expected from potentially damaging gusts,” they added.
Given the extent of the storm, estimated restoration times will be updated throughout the day as fault sites are assessed and restoration work progresses – these will be available on PowerCheck.ie.”
Trains and some bus services suspended in Northern Ireland
Trains and some bus services in Northern Ireland have been suspended until further notice due to Storm Darragh, reports the PA news agency. The Met Office has issued an amber warning to 9pm on Saturday.
Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) said about 46,000 customers were without power on Saturday morning after a night of high winds. NIE Networks added this number could continue to rise across the morning.
It said damage including broken overhead power lines, fallen trees across lines and broken poles will require repair work expected to continue into Sunday.
A spokesperson said:
Hundreds of extra staff have been brought in to help reinforce our normal capability.
Our incident management centre at Craigavon has been opened, as have our local incident centres which are in locations across Northern Ireland and used by our teams to coordinate our localised response.
We have mobilised additional call agents to deal with any queries customers may have regarding the repair process in their area.
Any customers who lose power can report the fault online at nienetworks.co.uk or call the NIE Networks helpline on 03457 643 643. Regular updates will be posted to social media channels.”
A number of roads, including Castle Street in Belfast city centre, were closed on Saturday morning while clean up work was carried out after storm damage.
Public transport company Translink said on social media:
Due to poor weather conditions all Goldliner services (including Dublin/DublinAirport and BelfastAirport buses) and rail services (including Enterprise services) are suspended until further notice.”
In Ireland, almost 400,000 customers are without power, reports the PA news agency.
The Belfast Christmas market is not expected to open on Saturday, depending on weather conditions, with organisers saying they need to ensure visitors and traders are kept safe.
Andy Hunter
The League One clash between Bristol Rovers and Bolton has also been called off, with plenty more postponements possible. The Championship games featuring Cardiff v Watford and Plymouth v Oxford were called off on Friday, with League Two’s match between Newport and Carlisle following suit after the Welsh FA earlier called off all games in the country amid a red weather warning.
Saturday afternoon’s race meetings at both Aintree and Chepstow have been called off due to the strong winds but Sandown has been cleared after a morning inspection.
Andy Hunter
More on the postponement of the Everton v Liverpool Merseyside derby today (see 8.48am GMT)
A statement released by the two clubs confirmed:
Following a Safety Advisory Group meeting at Goodison Park, attended by officials from both clubs, as well as representatives from Merseyside police and Liverpool city council this morning, it was decided that, due to the risk to safety in the local area due to strong wind gusts, and an amber severe wind warning that remains in place until 6am on Sunday, today’s fixture should be postponed on safety grounds.”
Everton’s statement added:
We apologise for the inconvenience caused and thank supporters for their understanding. Whilst we appreciate this will be deeply disappointing for supporters, the safety of fans, staff and players is of paramount importance. Information relating to a rearranged date for the fixture will be announced in due course. All tickets purchased for the original fixture will remain valid for the rearranged fixture.”
Liverpool also stated there was no alternative but to postpone the 245th edition of the derby, and what was due to be the final league derby played at Goodison Park. “We appreciate this will be deeply disappointing for supporters, but the safety of fans, staff and players is of paramount importance,” stated the club.
86,000 homes in England, Scotland and Wales without power
The Energy Networks Association said 86,000 homes in England, Scotland and Wales are without power.
A spokesperson said about 385,000 customers have been reconnected overnight, with more than 1,000 engineers ready to be deployed.
