Over 63,000 homes were left without power or subject to disruption, and dozens of flights have been cancelled, due to Storm Lillian.
The Met Office issued three yellow weather warnings for “strong and possibly damaging winds” in excess of 75mph across parts of northern England, southern Scotland and north Wales due to the storm. A yellow warning for strong winds ran from 5am to 11am on Friday for large parts of north England and the north Wales coast.
Another yellow weather warning for rain is in place across much of south-east England from 6am to 1pm on Saturday. The warning stretches from the Isle of Wight up to Ipswich in Suffolk and includes London.
The Met Office said people in the area should expect “spells of rain, heavy at times, likely to cause some travel disruption and perhaps flooding in a few places”.
Earlier, Northern Powergrid said over 60,000 customers were affected by power cuts, particularly in north-eastern England and Yorkshire.
At Leeds Festival, three stages – BBC Radio 1, Aux and Chevron – will not have any performances today due to high winds.
Festival organisers urged people camping to “stay in your tents if you are onsite” and to delay arrival to the site if possible. Chevron, a new 40,000-capacity area and the second-largest stage at the festival, was due to host Nia Archives and Danny Howard today.
A number of British Airways flights at Heathrow were cancelled on Friday morning in the wake of the strong winds. Flights to Manchester, Barcelona, Rome, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Paris and Basel were cancelled and journeys to Toronto, Munich and Doha were delayed, the airline said.
Previously, separate warnings for rain covering parts of Aberdeenshire and Angus in eastern Scotland, as well as south-western Scotland, were in place until 9am.
Travel disruption is anticipated on motorways and railways with passengers told to expect longer journey times on what is expected to be the busiest bank holiday getaway in nearly a decade, while the Met Office warned that some homes and businesses could be flooded.
Writing on X on Friday morning, the forecaster said: “Strong winds over the next few hours may bring some trees down and cause travel disruption in northern England as Storm Lilian clears away.”
The Environmental Agency said 22 flood warnings remain in place – seven were issued on Friday – while 57 flood alerts (where flooding is possible) are also in force.
Winds of up to 80mph are predicted to push eastwards this morning – sparking delays on the M6, A66 and A1 as drivers take to the road ahead of the bank holiday weekend.
Drivers have been urged to take extra care on roads, with a tree falling across a carriageway between J19 and J20, near the exit for the M56, this morning.
In Greater Manchester, Metrolink lines have been suspended “due to the storm bringing down multiple trees across the network”.
National Highways issued a warning advising road users in the north-west and north-east of England to check ahead and plan for disruption to their journeys. It warned of a particular risk to “high-sided” and other vulnerable vehicles, such as caravans and motorbikes, being blown over.
People took to X to post photos of fallen trees across the UK – in Middlesbrough, Manchester, Lancashire and elsewhere.
Northern Powergrid said it was prepared for power cuts due to the storm, with homes across Yorkshire, Leeds, Doncaster, Sunderland and elsewhere being subject to power cuts according to the operator’s map.
Storm Lilian is the twelfth named storm of the season. The storm is expected to pass quite quickly, with the the weather in most parts of the UK forecast to clear further into Friday, with highs of 20°C in the south of England. Winds are expected to calm over the weekend, although the wet weather will continue.
Heathrow said there were some high winds in the morning but that flights were unlikely to be impacted later on Friday, with some daily cancellations to be expected.
In a statement, British Airways said: “Due to restrictions imposed by air traffic control as a result of adverse weather across the UK, we’ve made some minor adjustments to our schedule.
“We’ve apologised to our customers for the disruption to their travel plans and to help get them to their destinations as quickly as possible.”
