RED WARNING for extreme wind, UK Feb 2022

[dustiswhatweare]

Just been out chainsawing a large mature oak which came down across the lane leading to chez moi, that'll provide most of next years winter fuel. Knackered!

[clv101]

One of the three chimneys at Isle of Grain Power Station has been blown down. https://t.co/FjlzXiqXjy

Oops.

[kenneal - lagger]

We had the top of an alder tree blow off into our drive but cleared it in about half an hour. A tree opposite our drive came down into the A339 but that was cleared by council contractors quite quickly but another tree came down across the road and hit a car a couple of hundred metres down the road. The occupiers were a split second away from being killed as the tree hit the roof above the rear seats. It's the second tree to have come down from the same property in the last couple of years and they have been warned by the council that the rest of their trees need the ivy taking off them to make them safe. I presume there will be a claim on their insurance.

We also had to do some running repairs on one of our polytunnels which had a retaining batten on one panel blow off. That was quickly repaired. We had some roofing sheets come loose in Storm Dudley and another broke in half. That was caused by the contractor not finishing the job and leaving those panels with only a couple of screws fixing them. They were edge panels on the weather side of the sheds so I fixed them down well yesterday, replacing the broken plastic panel, and they have held up well today.

We were due to go out to a Fascinating Aida concert and meal beforehand this evening but about 15 minutes before we were due to leave my wife was checking the venue's website and found out that the event had been postponed until June due to the weather and the lady's high sided bus not travelling well! That required a quick journey into the depths of the garden to pick some leaks for leaks and cheese sauce for dinner. I'll be putting some parsnip seeds in that bed as I clear it.

[adam2]

One local problem has been lack of petrol, mainly for chainsaws.
A couple of filling stations closed due to no electricity to power the pumps, others closed due to staff unable to get to work, and at least one had plenty of petrol for sale but no vehicle access due to downed trees.

A shuttle service involving jerry cans transported by horse was arranged ! Two horses, one rider less and carrying two petrol cans, and being led by a person riding a second horse.

[PS_RalphW]

Been out clearing a couple of small trees blocking a by road and a footbridge. small amount of tree damage and some garden fences flattened. Not much else to report.

[dustiswhatweare]

Ventured into my woods today (about 25 acres) to survey damage so far. A few whole trees down, and many with damage to the tops which are going to require the services of the local tree surgeon to make safe for future walking about - large branches partially split which could go any time.
Not seen damage to this extent in the last 15 years and it's not over yet, more high winds forecast.

[clv101]

Here's a good chart:

https://twitter.com/danholley_/status/1 ... rVjrCPg08A

[emordnilap]

Sunday morning, gusting very heavily with persistent rain all night and morning, and they say Storm Franklin is due to arrive at noon. Three in a row, with more to come.

[Potemkin Villager]

A fair blow here last night with the power going out at 1AM.
Amazingly it came on again at 4AM - I am most impressed as had
anticipated it not returning until lunch time today!

Calm and bright at the moment for now......

[adam2]

Flooding rather than extreme wind seems to be the main concern regarding storm Franklin.

The main complaint locally seems to be firstly about the time taken to restore electricity supplies, and secondly that areas of high house prices and better social status did not receive priority in restoration.
Dunster is the generally expensive area and was largely off for three days, whilst Minehead populated by the lower orders was largely restored within 24 hours.

Certain foolish persons have confused power cuts due to storm damage, with planned or rota power cuts due to shortage of generating capacity.
Said foolish persons have previously complained about their load group for rota disconnections, and the fact that they were placed in load group "N" without ANY consultation. Appeals for an upgrade to a better load group fell upon deaf ears. I thought that we had heard the last of this foolishness, but the prolonged storm induced outage is being blamed on the lowly load group.

[Potemkin Villager]

But we're entitled to it!

Reminds me of a wonderful put down in a builders merchants where a total
wally was demanding to be served ahead of others. The sales person sarcastically asked him
if he thought his money was any better than anybody else's. Did the job.

[mikepepler]

Various tiles off roofs in central Rye, roof ripped off holiday accommodation at Pontins in Camber, and we had a few trees down in our woods that we cleared from footpaths. More alarming is there are still some people without power and water in the rural areas around here - and they've been off since Friday in some cases. Water is out due to lack of power for pumping.

We had a short power cut ourselves, but didn't actually notice at first as everything important was off-grid.

[kenneal - lagger]

Grand daughter has just told me that we've got a big tree with a large split in it. I'll have to go and take a look.