Britain is set for 73F sun today but a cooler week will follow in the wake of the 95mph tree-toppling gales of Storm Ellen that left two dead including a girl, 15, who drowned in a Welsh river.
Strong winds which battered parts of the UK are expected to ease following disruption to coastal areas and warnings from emergency services.
Gusts of up to 70mph buffeted parts of the south-west of England and Wales on Friday, causing the RNLI and HM Coastguard to urge members of the public to be cautious in coastal areas.
South Wales Police said a 15-year-old girl died following an incident in a river in east Cardiff last night.
Emergency services, including a police helicopter, responded to reports of a girl in the river in Ball Lane, Llanrumney, at around 5.20pm.
‘At about 6.40pm a 15-year-old girl was located and despite the best efforts of emergency services she sadly passed away,’ the force said.
It follows Devon and Cornwall Police saying a man, who was in his 50s and from the London area, was pulled from the water near Helston, Cornwall, on Thursday afternoon but was confirmed dead shortly afterwards.
A teenage boy, who is related to the man, is in a stable condition in hospital in Truro following the incident at Church Cove in Gunwalloe, the force added.
Meanwhile, some 10 flood warnings remained in places across parts of the UK on Friday night, meaning flooding is expected, while the Environment Agency issued a further 24 flood alerts for swathes of the south-west.
The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning of wind for all of England, Wales and parts of Scotland on Friday, bringing the potential for travel disruption and large waves in coastal areas. Pictured: The Welsh town of Tywn
Gusts of up to 70mph buffeted parts of the south-west of England and Wales on Friday, causing the RNLI and HM Coastguard to urge members of the public to be cautious in coastal areas. Pictured: Drivers risking the waves on a coastal road in Cumbria
The strongest gust recorded on Friday was 71mph at the Needles on the Isle of Wight, while Mumbles Head in Swansea saw winds of up to 68mph. Pictured: Porthcawl, Wales, where visitors were shielding themselves against the heavy winds and rain
A yellow wind warning issued by the Met Office expired on Friday evening, with no further warnings expected over the weekend, according to forecaster Matthew Box.
‘It’s still going to be breezy and blustery tomorrow, but winds will not be as strong as they have been today,’ he said.
Heavy showers could hit parts of central England with the potential for thunder on Saturday, while southern parts of the country are expected to see sunny spells.
Further north it is a ‘mixed bag’ weather-wise, Mr Box said, with some cloudy but also sunny spells towards the east.
The strongest gust recorded on Friday was 71mph at the Needles on the Isle of Wight, while Mumbles Head in Swansea saw winds of up to 68mph.
HM Coastguard urged members of the public to keep their distance from the waves, while the RNLI advised visiting lifeguarded beaches whenever possible and to avoid storm watching if swells become high.
‘The combination of winds, tides and swells is going to make for dangerous conditions that could put you into difficulty very quickly,’ a tweet by the RNLI said.
Power cuts affected homes in Caerphilly, Monmouthshire and the Vale of Glamorgan yesterday, while rail services on the Cambrian line between Pwllheli and Machynlleth were halted and replacement buses put on.
Gusts of up to 70mph buffeted parts of the south-west of England and Wales on Friday, causing the RNLI and HM Coastguard to urge members of the public to be cautious in coastal areas. Pictured: Porthcawl, Wales
Waves crash into the seawall at the Dawlish seafront in Devon on Friday morning as a Great Western Railway train goes past
A woman in a coat paddles at the beach yesterday in Bournemouth as Storm Ellen continues to blast Britain with strong winds
Surfers took advantage of the wind and waves yesterday off the coast of Bournemouth as Storm Ellen batters the country
National Trust rangers look on as large waves strike the National Trust-owned harbour at Mullion Cove in Cornwall yesterday
The UK is currently in weed pollen season, which experts warn could raise the risk of asthma attacks.
As a result, asthma sufferers have been warned to stay indoors as forecasts show the pollen count is high in several areas across the UK which, combined with the strong winds, could cause fatal asthma attacks, experts have warned.
This is especially true in London, the East of England, Wales and the Midlands.
Meteorologists said today will be ‘breezy’ with sunny spells and thundery showers in the North West, while Sunday will be mostly dry and Monday will feature cloud and outbreaks of rain from the west.
Britain’s worst storm for six months wreaked havoc in North Devon overnight on Thursday sending beach huts floating out to sea. Footage showed the huts at Woolacombe beach being washed away by the tides while onlookers watched.
About 70 huts, owned by Parkin Estates and mostly rented out to holidaymakers, were dragged down to the sea. Local resident and eyewitness Richard Walden said the sea became a ‘cauldron of debris’.
Mr Walden, whose home overlooks the beach, said they were an ‘iconic’ part of the town’s tourist appeal, adding: ‘Many of the beach huts have literally just been smashed to bits by the waves. It’s unbelievable.’
Meanwhile, bookmaker Coral has made it 6-4 for the wind speed to reach as high as 100mph in the mainland UK this weekend.
Several beach huts were washed into the sea at Woolacombe beach in North Devon on Thursday (pictured on Friday morning)
At least eight cars were damaged when the trees were brought down at the village of Portmeirion in North Wales yesterday
A fallen tree completely blocks the road near Sandplace railway station in Looe, Cornwall, after Storm Ellen’s 90mph winds
A police sign placed in front of the giant fallen tree in Looe, Cornwall, where the road had been closed due to strong winds
The firm go 5-4 for this month to end as the wettest August on record and 1-2 for this summer to be the wettest ever in the UK.
Coral’s John Hill said: ‘We are set for an unsettled weekend of weather, with our betting suggesting the wind speed could even reach as high as 100mph in some parts of the mainland.
‘This has been one the dampest Augusts since records began and if the rain continues to fall in the closing stages of the month, it may be a record wet one.’
Ellen, which contains remnants of Tropical Storm Kyle, is the first storm named in school summer holidays by the Met Office or Ireland’s Met Eireann since they began naming Atlantic storms in 2015.
Ellen is known as a ‘weather bomb’ by forecasters due to ‘explosive cyclogenesis’ seeing it strengthen as its air pressure plunges more than 24 millibars in 24 hours. The storm’s air pressure fell by 34mb to 965mb in the 24 hours to midnight on Tuesday, Met Office forecasts showed.
The stormy conditions represent a dramatic turnaround from the extreme heatwave experienced in Britain up until last week which saw temperatures of at least 93F (34C) for six days in a row for the first time on record.