Amber warning in Scotland as high winds cause damage and flooding

A man has been killed and hundreds of thousands of homes on the island of Ireland are without power after Storm Amy caused widespread disruption on Friday.

An amber weather warning, indicating a danger to life, was also in effect in the north of Scotland until 9pm on Saturday.

There were 25 flood warnings and 17 flood alerts in place across Scotland, where high winds reportedly caused a derelict building to collapse in Glasgow. Power outages have also been reported in the Highlands, and ferry sailings, flights, and trains have been cancelled. 

In Ireland, power lines were damaged and hundreds of schools closed early as the first named storm of the season swept across the island.

Irish police said they were treating an incident where a man died in the Letterkenny area of County Donegal, shortly after 4.15pm, as weather-related.

The Irish government issued its highest-level wind warning in Donegal, where residents were advised to take shelter between 4pm and 6pm.

A provisional October wind gust record for Northern Ireland was set as 92mph winds were recorded at Magilligan in County Derry, the Met Office said.

The Electricity Supply Board (ESB) reported that approximately 184,000 homes, farms, and businesses across the Republic of Ireland were without power at 5.15pm. About 50,000 properties in Northern Ireland have also been left without power, NIE Networks said. 

Alex Houston, NIE Networks operations manager, said: “Our incident management centre in Craigavon has been opened, as have our local incident centres across Northern Ireland, with staff across the company being escalated to assist with the response effort.

“We have mobilised additional call agents to handle any queries customers may have regarding the repair process in their area.”

A man has been killed and hundreds of thousands of homes on the island of Ireland are without power after Storm Amy caused widespread disruption on Friday.

An amber weather warning, indicating a danger to life, was also in effect in the north of Scotland until 9pm on Saturday.

There were 25 flood warnings and 17 flood alerts in place across Scotland, where high winds reportedly caused a derelict building to collapse in Glasgow. Power outages have also been reported in the Highlands, and ferry sailings, flights, and trains have been cancelled. 

In Ireland, power lines were damaged and hundreds of schools closed early as the first named storm of the season swept across the island.

Irish police said they were treating an incident where a man died in the Letterkenny area of County Donegal, shortly after 4.15pm, as weather-related.

The Irish government issued its highest-level wind warning in Donegal, where residents were advised to take shelter between 4pm and 6pm.

A provisional October wind gust record for Northern Ireland was set as 92mph winds were recorded at Magilligan in County Derry, the Met Office said.

The Electricity Supply Board (ESB) reported that approximately 184,000 homes, farms, and businesses across the Republic of Ireland were without power at 5.15pm. About 50,000 properties in Northern Ireland have also been left without power, NIE Networks said. 

Alex Houston, NIE Networks operations manager, said: “Our incident management centre in Craigavon has been opened, as have our local incident centres across Northern Ireland, with staff across the company being escalated to assist with the response effort.

“We have mobilised additional call agents to handle any queries customers may have regarding the repair process in their area.”