Storm Antoni causes trees to block 100 miles of railway
Around 100 miles of railway were blocked today (Saturday, August 5) due to strong winds caused by Storm Antoni. The bad weather[1] caused trees to be blown down blocking trains between Exeter and Penzance.
Amber wind warnings were issued by the Met Office and a danger to life alert was put out warning people of the severe weather. The storm has mainly affected the south-western areas of England and Wales although rain has affected much of the country. A yellow warning for "unseasonably windy weather" was put in place in parts of the south, while a yellow thunderstorm warning was issued for south-east England and East Anglia.
The Met Office added that severe road and rail disruption was reported across the South West. Around half a month's worth of rain fell on parts of the UK.
Great Western Railway has warned passengers not to travel between Exeter and Penzance due to the number of trees which had fallen on the tracks. Meanwhile, a number of roads have been blacked on Devon and Cornwall.
Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge said gusts of 78mph were measured at Berry Head in Devon and 43mm of rain fell in Scarborough, North Yorkshire – almost half of August’s average rainfall. He said: "The rain is still ongoing at the moment, there’s still a fair bit of thunder and rain, particularly across northern England and East Anglia.
"There has been some localised flooding. The storm is going to clear through this evening, it will pretty much all be gone by midnight."
A number of people were evacuated from their homes in Loftus and Carlin How, in North Yorkshire, due to flooding from the heavy rain. Another eight people were evacuated from their homes in Clontarf, in Dublin.