Gale force winds of up to 80mph are expected in coastal areas of southern England from early on Sunday morning as the first named storm of the autumn season strikes.

Local residents have been told to prepare for travel disruption, power cuts and possible damage to buildings.

The Met Office issued an amber warning for 2am to 11am in West Sussex, Kent, Brighton and Hove, East Sussex and the Isle of Wight as Storm Angus approaches from the south-east.



A wider yellow warning beginning just after midnight covers a swathe of the southern and south-eastern England, including London, where high winds will be accompanied by heavy rain. Drivers should beware of localised flooding and debris from trees, the Met Office said.

Simon Partridge, a Met Office forecaster, said Angus was identified and named early Saturday morning as meteorologists tracked an area of low pressure sweeping in from the Atlantic. As it drew closer, they realised just how deep it was, he said.

“It’s basically going to be a pretty wet and stormy night,” Partridge said. “The storm itself reaches the south-west of England by around about nine or 10 o’clock tonight, so that’s when the first heavy rain and the strongest winds start to arrive, and then pushes its way north-eastwards overnight with the strongest winds kicking in just after midnight for the southern coast.”

The amber warning, which is only for wind, stretches from Portsmouth in Hampshire through Sussex and the whole of the Kent coast, Partridge said. Forecasters expect gusts of between 70 and 80mph. “Be prepared for disruption to travel services, interruptions to power supplies and some damage to buildings,” the warning says.

The yellow warning covers an area roughly from Ipswich to Plymouth, with winds of 45 to 55mph expected inland and 60 to 65mph on the coast.



Rainfall of up to 40mm is possible over the hills in the areas covered by the yellow warning, but the majority of the wet weather will have cleared the east coast by about 10am on Sunday with some fairly blustery showers to follow.

“It’s one of those. Comes and goes pretty quickly. It does rattle through at a fair speed,” Partridge said. “Obviously there will be some localised effects. There could be some disruption to transport, roads with some localised flooding.

“We could see some trees coming down, because obviously it’s the first storm of the year so any branches or trees or such which are slightly weaker, this is the first chance that anybody will find out really. The first one is usually the one where you see more in the way of branches coming down, simply because it’s the first chance they’ve had.

“But yeah, it should be all clear by lunchtime really. It’s only really the east coast of East Anglia and up towards the Humber where we’ll still see some strong winds and a little bit of rain, but other than that most places will be turning much drier and with much lighter winds.”

In the north, the cold spell continues with fairly light winds and clear skies expected. Drivers crossing the Pennines were confronted with a covering of snow at high levels on Saturday morning, and winter wonderland scenes greeted walkers above 1,000ft (305m) in areas of the Peak District and the Yorkshire Dales. There were also some light snow showers hon lower ground in West Yorkshire.

The UK’s coldest temperatures were in Scotland. Braemar in Aberdeenshire dropped to -8C (17.6F) on Friday night, and -10C was expected in sheltered areas in Scotlandovernight Saturday and into Sunday morning.</s>Image copyright PA Image caption The cargo ship - the Saga Sky - was damaged after hitting a barge carrying rocks

A 200m-long cargo ship hit a barge full of rocks in the English Channel, as Storm Angus battered the south coast of England with high winds and heavy rain.

Eleven of the 23 crew members were evacuated by helicopter after the ship got into difficulty off Samphire Hoe near Dover.

The other 12 members remained on board and are working on getting the vessel to a safe port.

Storm Angus is the first named storm of the season.

'Major incident'

The Saga Sky was dragged into the rock barge by severe winds after losing all of its engine power.

The coastguard declared the situation "a major incident", with two helicopters involved in evacuating crew members and a French tug sent to assist the stricken ship.

Andy Roberts, an RNLI volunteer with the Dover Lifeboat House, said although the Saga Sky was damaged and had been taking on water, there was "no sign of pollution" in the surrounding waters.

After regaining some engine power, the ship was able to move to a safe anchorage at Dungeness, according to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, and the focus is now on moving it to a more secure port of refuge.

Storm Angus has brought gusts of up to 106mph - recorded 23 miles off the coast of Margate - while gusts hit 80mph at Langdon Bay, both in Kent.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Storm Angus has left us behind but things are not calm quite yet.

More than 1,000 properties in the south west of England - the majority in Devon - were without power, according to Western Power Distribution. Almost all power had been restored by Sunday afternoon.

On Sunday evening there were five flood warnings in place across England and Wales, down from more than 25, including one severe, at the storm's height.

Angus has now moved out into the North Sea, but bad weather is set to continue into Monday.

A further three Met Office weather warnings have been issued for the beginning of the week for Wales and the south-west and north-east of England, which can expect heavy rain and winds of up to 50mph.

Image caption In Brighton, scaffolding fell on top of a car overnight

Image copyright PA Image caption Waves crashed into the sea wall in Newhaven, East Sussex

Devon and Cornwall Police declared a major incident overnight because of flooding at the Mill on the Mole residential park, South Molton, at 04:15 GMT, but residents who had been evacuated were able to return by 05:50.

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said some properties in Braunton and in Bradiford had been flooded.

Meanwhile, fire crews were called to flooding to roads and "multiple properties" from sea water in East Bar, Swanage.

In East Sussex, organisers of the Brighton 10k tweeted that the run had been cancelled because of the high winds.

And in West Sussex. fire crews tackled a "major" fire on Bognor Regis seafront in the "difficult conditions" brought by Angus.

Image copyright Ben Webber Image caption Church Street in Braunton, Devon, flooded overnight

Image copyright Swanage Fire Station Image caption Swanage Fire Station tweeted this picture of damage to the sea wall in Swanage

Image copyright Swanage Fire Station Image caption And they advised people to avoid Swanage High Street

The Port of Dover suspended ferry crossings earlier due to "very high winds" but this was later lifted.

Network Rail said the weather had affected train services across the south east, but the majority of lines were now open.

The storm's effects have also been felt in the Channel Islands, with a wind gust of 84mph recorded in Guernsey and gusts of up to 87mph in Jersey.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Fourteen fire engines were sent to tackle the blaze on The Esplanade in Bognor Regis

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Read our terms and conditions.</s>The Met Office has upgraded to an amber weather warning with severe winds from Storm Angus hitting Sussex tomorrow.

Angus is the first named storm of autumn 2016, and is expected to sweep through south-eastern England bringing some very strong south-westerly winds and heavy rain to affected parts through Sunday morning.

Looking at the development of the low-pressure system, on Friday morning (November 18) the Met Office issued a Yellow warning for Sunday morning for strong winds and heavy rain, from Dorset to Suffolk.

But today Met Office forecasters issued an upgraded Amber warning for severe gales for a stretch of south-eastern England from the Isle of Wight to Kent. The issuing of the amber warning has triggered the naming of Storm Angus.

The amber warning is effective from 2am on Sunday until 11 on Sunday, while the yellow weather warning is from 12am until 3pm.

The Met Office, which is warning that gusts of 70-80 mph are possible in exposed coastal locations within the Amber warning area, is advising there will be likely disruption to transport and power supplies and some damage to buildings.

Met Office Chief Meteorologist, Andy Page, said: “Storm Angus is developing rapidly and will move northeast across southern and southeast England during Sunday morning. Southerly then southwesterly gales are likely with storm force winds developing over the English Channel and affecting some coastal districts. Very squally showers are also expected such that isolated gusts of 70-75 mph are also possible further inland in the Amber warning area.”

The Name Our Storms programme is co-ordinated by the Met Office and Met Éireann, the Irish met service.

A pilot project began last year, and Storm Angus marks the first storm of the second year of the project.

For more information on preparing for winter, visit the Met Office Get Ready for Winter pages at www.metoffice.gov.uk/barometer/get-ready-for-winter</s>A large swath of south-west Britain is coping with flooding and high winds as another block of torrential rain swept into Britain on the heels of Storm Angus.



The Met Office issued an amber warning – the second highest severe weather alert – for Devon and parts of Somerset, predicting that up to 30mm of rain could fall within just an hour. It also put out a yellow (“be aware”) warning for areas of northern England.

By late morning on Monday the Environment Agency (EA) had published seven flood warnings for the south-west, meaning that flooding is expected and immediate action should be taken, and 65 flood alerts – flooding is possible – across England and Wales.

It said impacts were likely to include flooding of properties and parts of communities, and “significant disruption” to travel with a number of roads and rail services likely to be affected

The EA added: “Across England and Wales localised impacts from river or surface water flooding are possible. Gales and large waves will affect the east Channel coast for a time overnight, giving the potential for soma localised spray and wave overtopping here.”

Among the structures damaged over the weekend was the ancient clapper bridge Tarr Steps on Exmoor in north Devon. The middle part of the bridge, made up of stones weighing up to two tonnes, were washed away.

The warnings from the Met Office and EA came as the government was accused of failing to deliver on promises to fund “natural” flood management schemes such as planting trees.

A freedom of information request by the environmental group Friends of the Earth to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) revealed that there was no funding earmarked specifically for natural flood management, despite ministers saying they would fund such measures.

Natural flood management schemes aim to slow the movement of water downstream to prevent flooding. This can involve creating water storage such as ponds, planting trees along water courses and restoring rivers to their original meandering path.

As the south-west mopped up and braced itself for further disruption, the EA said it was preparing to put up temporary defences “where necessary” and said rivers had been cleared to make sure water could flow freely.

Motorists were warned not to drive through flood water and residents in at-risk areas have been advised to contact their local councils for sandbags to protect their homes. 



A spokesman for Network Rail said the line between Bristol Parkway and Swindon had been closed due to “heavy flooding”. Trains between Cardiff and London Paddington have been cancelled and diversions are in place on other routes, he added.

Residents in Bristol were shocked as deep flood water trapped cars in Whitchurch Lane. Lee Gitsham, 43, set off for work as an office supply manager at 8am, only to be confronted by water up to a metre deep that had left several cars partly submerged.

He said: “I had to go through an alternative route because the bottom of the road was flooded. Parked cars were submerged in water. There were two drivers who tried to get through but got stuck. It was at wing mirror level so it must have been about 2ft-3ft of water.

“I have lived in that area for nearly 10 years. I have never seen it as bad as that. We have had a bit of flooding where the water has covered the pavement but never where it covered car bonnets.”

The flood warnings for Monday included the river Mole and North Molton and South Molton in Devon, where residents had to be evacuated over the weekend when floodwater poured into the Mill on the Mole residential park.

People evacuated from the chalets were looked after at a reception centre set up at South Molton Community College. Householders also had to leave homes that were flooded in Braunton and Exeter.

There were hold-ups on motorways on Monday morning with visibility reduced to a few metres at times by the rain. On Sunday, rail passengers in Devon were delayed for several hours as water lapped up on to tracks.

Alison Baptiste, national flood duty manager at the EA, said: “Large parts of southern England have already experienced the impacts of Storm Angus this weekend. With more heavy rain on its way, people in the north and south-west need to be prepared for the risk of flooding.

“Environment Agency teams have been out working through the night and we are now preparing for further flooding as rain continues over the next couple of days. Environment Agency teams will clear blockages in rivers, continue to issue flood warnings and may operate flood gates and sea defences.”

Storm Angus, the first named storm of the season, which had reached the North Sea by about midday on Sunday, brought gusts of more than 80mph and caused power cuts for more than 1,000 homes in the south-west.

Eleven crew members had to be rescued from a cargo ship after it crashed into a stone barge off the coast of Dover and began taking on water. The other 12 remained on board as they worked alongsidecoastguards to bring the ship into port.

Issuing its amber warning for Devon and Somerset, the Met Office said: “A further broad area of heavy, persistent rain will move northwards across south-west England. Although the more persistent rain should clear from Devon by early afternoon, heavy and possibly thundery showers are likely to follow.

“Please be prepared for disruption to transport due to localised flooding, whilst flooding of homes and businesses is also possible.

“Some 20-30mm of rain is expected fall in a three-to-six-hour period in places, and a low risk of this falling in one-to-two hours. There could be as much as 40-60mm possible locally through the whole of Monday. The ground has been left very wet from Saturday night’s rain and this increases the risk of further flooding.”

The EA said the flooding risk could continue into Tuesday but by Wednesday drier weather was expected.</s>The Met Office is warning of possible difficult driving conditions in Derbyshire throughout this afternoon and overnight because of ice and snow.

The yellow weather warning is in force from 1.20pm today (Friday) until 10am tomorrow (Saturday).

It states: "Wintry showers, continuing during Friday and overnight, will lead to the possibility of ice forming as temperatures fall this evening and overnight.

"This will occur primarily on untreated surfaces but perhaps also where grit is washed off by frequent showers.

"Additionally, 1-3 cm of snow may accumulate on hills above around 150 m and more than 5 cm above 400 m.

"Some of the heaviest showers could produce slushy conditions even at low levels.

"Please be aware of possible tricky travel conditions. The warning has been updated to adjust the start time forward, and include more of the Yorkshire Pennine area."
The Met Office issues warnings for parts of South East England as Storm Angus prepares to make landfall.