In the past two weeks, Storms Austen and Boelo have battered transport and infrastructure across Britain. With “widespread gusts of 60-70mph”, Storm Austen terrorised the Southwest leaving thousands of homes without power, and schools closed across Cornwall and Devon.
Along with power outages, the storm also caused flood threats throughout Britain, with 57 flood warnings and alerts being issued country wide. This appears to be the start of a “winter of great flooding”, which the Prime Minister Andy Burnham predicts. Travel infrastructure was also hit, with many trains being cancelled along the Southwest – an issue particularly felt by University of Exeter students looking to return home for reading week. Impacts to travel did not stop here, however, as airports and ferry services in Jersey and Guernsey were also forced to close due to the storm.
The weekend after Storm Austen’s battering of the South, Storm Boelo brought with it an amber weather warning, targeting Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the north of England. In Scotland, wind gusts reached a high of 84 mph, which classifies as a ‘Strong Gale (Force 9)’ on the Beaufort Wind Scale. Winds were combined with heavy rain, which has led to higher surface run-off and subsequent flooding in high-rainfall areas.
Along with environmental damages, Storm Boelo also had significant economic and social impacts.
Two men, one in his 60s and one in his 20s, were killed by trees falling on their car in Bathgate, Scotland.
Economic impacts include transport cancellations, impacting workers’ ability to travel to work and school. Specifically, the railway lines between Fort William and Mallaig were most impacted. Coastal town Largs in West Scotland faced major economic damages, with many businesses reporting property damage and others being unable to operate while the storm was in full swing. Other impacts include closures of farms during prime pumpkin picking season, which has led to some farms losing up to £50,000 in revenue, as reported by the BBC.
The combination of Storm Austen and Storm Boelo has wreaked havoc across the UK, but with a combination of the Met Office warning system, and local governments deploying extra personnel to impacted areas, the effects have been minimised. Andy Burnham continues to urge people to “stock up” on essentials and food items to become more resilient to such emergencies which appear to be growing in frequency.
