The passage of storm Henk in the United Kingdom on Wednesday January 3 sparked hundreds of flood alerts and caused transport disruptions and power cuts. Police announced that a motorist aged around 50 died on Tuesday after a tree fell on his car in Gloucestershire (west of England).
The strongest gusts were recorded on Tuesday afternoon on the Isle of Wight (Channel), where the wind reached 150 kilometers per hour. More than three hundred flood alerts are in effect across England and Wales. According to the Energy Networks Association, the organization that collects data from electricity suppliers, around ten thousand people are still without electricity.
The public agency National Highways, which manages highways, announced that several major roads would be closed due to flooding: “As further rain is expected in many areas throughout the day, roads are expected to remain closed for many hours. »
Several railway companies have warned that traffic will be very disrupted on Wednesday. “Due to strong winds, trees on the line have damaged or delayed trains in many places on our network,” explained the South Western Railway company on Wednesday morning, which decided to suspend train traffic “for several hours to ensure the safety” of passengers and employees.
The United Kingdom, particularly Scotland and the north of England, was already hit at the end of December by Storm Gerrit. Three men were found dead, trapped in a vehicle found in a river in northern England.