Snow and wind warnings have been issued ahead of Storm Barra as thousands remain without power
(PA)
Severe weather warnings have been issued for most of the UK ahead of the arrival of Storm Barra as thousands of homes remain without power.
The second named storm of the season will hit on Tuesday, following on from wet and windy weather on Sunday night and throughout Monday, according to the Met Office.
While the west of Ireland will receive the worst of the storm, yellow wind warnings are in place across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, while snow warnings have been issued for southern and western Scotland.
It comes as thousands of people are still without heating and hot water after Storm Arwen affected power supplies to more than one million households 10 days ago.
The Energy Networks Association (ENA) said 3,190 homes were still waiting to be reconnected as of 2pm on Sunday. This was down from 4,025 homes on Sunday morning.
The majority of the affected homes are in the north east of England.
Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge warned gale force winds of 45-50mph on Tuesday and into Wednesday would not make it “easier” for those trying to reconnect the remaining homes.
Energy Secretary to review power firms’ operations following Storm Arwen outages
Energy secretary Kwasi Kwarteng vowed there would be a review into power firms’ operations as he visited the north east on Sunday to survey the damage done by Storm Arwen.
During a visit to a Northern Powergrid call centre in Penshaw, Sunderland, Mr Kwarteng told PA news agency: “I think we can make the system a lot more resilient.
“I had an experience on 9 August 2019 when a million people in the south east were commuting and they had a power outage.
“Immediately after that we had a review and we looked at the system and we held the transport and train companies’ feet to the fire and we have got a more resilient system.
“That’s exactly what I want to happen this time.
“We will have a review, we will see if the distributor companies have enough infrastructure, we may even have enforcement action if necessary.”
Speaking at the call centre, Mr Kwarteng added he “does not accept” the power cuts would have been resolved quicker in the south.
“One of the particular reasons why we haven’t got people back on the power supply is the weather conditions and they are very challenging (with) people in sparsely populated, very rural areas and that represents a challenge,” he said.
Chiara Giordano6 December 2021 08:41
Severe weather warnings for wind and snow as thousands remain without power
Thousands of people are still without power 10 days in the wake of Storm Arwen as a new storm is set to hit the UK on Tuesday.
Forecasters have issued severe weather warnings for wind and snow ahead of Storm Barra, the second named storm of the season.
It comes after Storm Arwen affected power supplies to more than one million households 10 days ago.
Chiara Giordano6 December 2021 08:25
Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live weather updates as Storm Barra is set to hit the UK on Tuesday. Stay tuned for rolling updates on the latest news.
Chiara Giordano6 December 2021 08:20
