Impact of Storm Corrie 'likely to be significant' as 90mph winds could blast through northern Britain

The impact of Storm Corrie is “likely to be significant”, Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said.

Her warning came as parts of the UK braced for the pending storm and its strengthening winds that could bring gusts of up to 90mph to parts of Scotland and the north of England on Sunday.

Power companies said around 34,000 customers were still without supplies across the north of England and Scotland on Sunday after the devastating strong winds of Storm Malik a day earlier.

A nine-year-old boy in Staffordshire and a 60-year-old woman in Aberdeen died after trees were torn down in dangerous gusts on Saturday.

Ms Sturgeon, who had just chaired a resilience meeting on weather, tweeted on Sunday: “There are amber/yellow @metoffice warnings in place for all of Scotland as Storm Corrie sets in – please heed the warnings and take care. Impacts from the storm are likely to be significant tonight & into tomorrow.

“Work to repair the damage from Storm Malik continues. Tens of thousands have had power reconnected already – however, many will remain off supply again tonight and some, especially in north east, could be off into Tuesday. Welfare arrangements are in place.”

“Special arrangements remain in place for vulnerable customers and local resilience partnerships continue to work with councils to provide welfare support.”

The Met Office, which warned that “damaging gusts of wind are possible later today and overnight into Monday morning”, said Storm Corrie is set to bring gusts of up to 90mph in exposed coastal locations in northern Scotland, and 70-80mph gusts in the north.

It is set to move eastwards across Scotland on Sunday and push across the North Sea in the early hours of Monday.

Amber and yellow weather warnings for wind across northern parts of Scotland from Sunday into Monday morning are in force.

They state that “flying debris is likely and could lead to injuries or danger to life”, while there may be some damage to trees and buildings, which could include tiles that have blown from roofs.

Ice warnings were also issued by the Met Office covering Grampian, Highlands and Eilean Siar, Strathclyde and Fife on Monday as wintry showers and falling temperatures after Storm Corrie may turn untreated surfaces icy.

It said: “In the wake of Storm Corrie, falling temperatures may allow a brief period of snow in a few areas, mainly on hills.

“Later in the night, clearer skies and wintry showers are expected, these most frequent for northwest and north Scotland, few and far between in eastern areas.

“These are likely to lead to ice forming on untreated surfaces, while strong northwesterly winds may lead to temporary blizzard conditions over high ground, with 1-2 cm of snow above 200m elevation and perhaps a few cm on the highest routes.”

Earlier, Northern Powergrid said that around 80,000 customers, almost all in Northumberland and County Durham, had been affected by power cuts and up to 16,000 customers were still without power after being hit by Storm Malik.

Some 7,500 households are expected to be without power by the end of Sunday, the Scottish Government said in an update at 7pm on Sunday.

Those who are without power by the end of the day could be waiting until Tuesday before their service will be restored.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “The power companies have drafted in a large number of additional engineers and are making significant inroads into reconnecting customers.

“However, we need to be aware that the arrival of Storm Corrie could hamper these efforts and add further problems.

“For those who will unfortunately not have power tonight, support with alternative accommodation is available to anyone who needs it.”

Richard Gough, of SSEN, said that due to the extent of damage caused by Storm Malik, “coupled with the expected impact of Storm Corrie, we expect the full restoration of customer supplies from both storms to extend into the early part of next week”.

He added: “We are therefore reminding all customers who remain off supply that they may want to consider making alternative arrangements, where possible.”

Rural Aberdeenshire is among the hardest hit areas and some customers in Angus, the Highlands, the Moray coast and Perthshire are still waiting for supplies to be restored.

Northern Powergrid director Paul Glendinning warned “it is likely that a relatively small proportion of our customers will remain without power beyond Sunday night” due to damage caused by both storms.

He said that supplies had been restored to more than 60,000 customers.

Durham County Council, which offered free hot food and drinks to households who are without power, tweeted: “We are continuing our clean up efforts following the impact of #StormMalik.

“Our teams are out again today clearing blocked roads, footpaths, and debris to keep our county open.”

A car which had been crushed by fallen bricks after Storm Malik was spotted in Seaton Sluice, Northumberland.

ScotRail said all of its services are going to be withdrawn from Sunday at 6pm due to “very strong winds” in an effort to “protect passengers and railway staff, domestic ScotRail services”.

Network Rail Scotland, which said that “all parts of the railway are working together”, added that any other trains which are running on Sunday night will be limited to a maximum speed of 40mph and operators are looking at how this will hit journeys.