Fallen trees cause injury, damage and disruption as Storm Pia winds hit 115mph

Fallen trees have caused injury, damage and travel disruption as Storm Pia battered parts of the UK with gusts hitting 115mph.

One man was taken to hospital with what is understood to be non-life-threatening injuries after a tree fell onto his car on the A515 in Clifton, Derbyshire.

Derbyshire Constabulary said a number of trees had fallen on the road, which is expected to be closed for most of the day, and motorists have been advised to find alternative routes.

Also in Derbyshire, in the village of Stanley, workmen attempted to remove a tree that fell onto and damaged the roof of a house.

Further south, a fallen tree blocked a train line between Ascot, Berkshire and Bagshot, Surrey.

Thousands of households were still without electricity as of 2pm on Thursday.

A yellow warning for wind, stretching north from Birmingham to the Shetland Islands and including Northern Ireland, ended at 3pm.

But another yellow alert was issued for snow and ice across Shetland from Thursday and into the weekend, with possible accumulations of 2-5cm of snow.

Icy patches are expected on untreated roads and pavements on the Scottish archipelago, bringing the risk of injury from slips and falls as well as travel disruption.

Gusts of 115mph were recorded at Cairngorm Summit, winds of 81mph were recorded at Brizlee Wood, near Alnwick, Northumberland and at Baltasound on Shetland, with gusts of more than 70mph recorded elsewhere in the North East of England.

South Western Railway (SWR) announced cancellations, delays or alterations to services until 5pm after the railway between Ascot and Bagshot was blocked.

A spokesperson for Energy Networks Association (ENA), which represents Britain’s electricity network operators, said 80% of customers affected by storm-related power cuts this morning have been reconnected.

“But around 17,900 customers are without power at 2pm today,” they added.

“Engineers are working to reconnect customers as quickly as possible but strong and disruptive winds persist in many places, which is hampering some efforts.”

Northern Powergrid, one of the electricity network operators represented by ENA, said it had restored power to more than 45,000 customers across the North East, Yorkshire and north Lincolnshire by Thursday evening – around 96% of customers impacted by Storm Pia.

Louise Lowes, director of customer service, said: “We expect all customers affected by Storm Pia to be back on supply tonight.”

According to the ENA, the main areas affected are across Scotland, North East England, Yorkshire, North West England and the Midlands.

Storm Pia, which was named by the Danish Met Institute, is gradually moving towards mainland Europe where its impacts are expected to be more severe, the Met Office said in a statement.

The winds are due to ease for many across the UK on Thursday afternoon with wet weather likely to persist in western areas.

The forecasting body predicted continued “unsettled” weather over the weekend and said a White Christmas – defined as a single snowflake falling on Christmas Day – is likely, particularly over high ground in the far north of Scotland.

Met Office deputy chief meteorologist Dave Hayter said: “It’ll be a particularly wet weekend in the north and west, with breezy conditions for many.

“While those further south will generally be drier, some sporadic showers could spread into the south west at times, as well as some more persistent rain for Wales on Sunday.

“Christmas Day will likely see a continuation of unsettled, mainly showery, weather in the north west, including Northern Ireland.

“While the day may start damp in southern and central areas, that rain should clear into the English Channel through the evening.”

Oli Claydon, a Met Office spokesman, said there will not be “picture postcard snowy scenes” on Christmas Day.

Train passengers experienced significant disruption on Thursday with National Rail reporting that routes across Scotland, and parts of England and Wales were affected, and speed restrictions were in place on lines within the previous weather warning area.

Schools in Shetland were closed.

The roof came off a section of a block of flats in Haslam Crescent, Sheffield, according to the city council.

People on social media reported their sleep had been disturbed by the storm.