Storm Boelo in the UK: two dead, around 90,000 properties without power

Casualties and scale of outages

Storm Boelo battered the United Kingdom over the past weekend with strong winds, heavy rain and flooding. According to Sky News, cited by Anadolu with reference to the authorities, two people died: a 60-year-old man who was struck by a falling tree near Castle Douglas in Dumfries (Scotland), and a man aged around 20, who was killed when a tree fell on his car in north London. Two more women were hospitalized after a tree fell. BBC News also reports two men killed by falling trees on Sunday. The storm hit Scotland, parts of Northern Ireland and northern England hardest, with gusts reaching 84 miles per hour (135 km/h). According to the Energy Networks Association (ENA), as of 19:00 on Sunday, about 90,000 customers remained without electricity; in some parts of Scotland, roughly a third of the average monthly rainfall fell over the weekend.

Restoration and warnings for Tuesday

Repair work began on Monday, but as ENA chief executive Leo Slade told BBC Radio 4, restoration is being complicated by the weather: sustained winds of 50–85 miles per hour persist in parts of Scotland and northern England, and until this weather front passes engineers cannot safely replace poles and restore power lines. Slade stressed that the UK power grid is 'highly resilient' and that investment is being made to prepare for such scenarios, but in his view a discussion is needed about additional investment to protect against future storms linked to climate change. The Met Office warns of further unsettled weather: conditions should improve on Monday, but from 3:00 until midnight on Tuesday a yellow warning for strong wind is in force for parts of northern England, Scotland and the north-east of Northern Ireland; a new front with rain and wind is expected.

Floods, transport and impact on residents

The flood threat remains: the Environment Agency issued 10 flood warnings and 65 alerts in England, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency issued 10 warnings and 11 alerts, and Natural Resources Wales issued nine alerts. Transport has been severely disrupted, especially Scotland's railways: some flights at Leeds Bradford Airport were cancelled or diverted, and fallen trees, damaged road surfaces and wires on the carriageway forced the closure of major roads in Scotland. On Monday, five primary schools in Aberdeenshire closed due to power outages, and Ellon Academy closed due to storm damage. Businesses are also suffering from the outages: Marcus Reed, operations director of fragrance producer Wax Lyrical, told the BBC that his factory and shop in Lindale (Cumbria) will remain without electricity until Tuesday evening, he had to send staff and customers home, and the loss of two days of production and deliveries is especially painful in the peak pre-Christmas season. Boelo is the second storm to hit the country in recent days, after Storm Austin, which caused comparable disruption.

Why it matters

The event affects hundreds of thousands of residents of Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland: households and small businesses remain without power, schools and roads are closed, and wind and flood warnings remain in force until Tuesday. In practical terms, this means that residents of affected areas should take into account current Met Office and flood agency warnings when planning travel, and the restoration of power supply, according to ENA's assessment, directly depends on the passage of the new wind front. Editorial conclusion based on the facts of the publications: repeated storms within a short period have already pushed the discussion about the sufficiency of investment in the power grid into the public agenda — this was stated by the head of the ENA, though the amount of investment needed has not yet been determined.

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