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Thousands of people are waiting for another night without electricity Storm Darragh caused chaos across the country over the weekend.
Areas such as Hereford are experiencing flooding after heavy rainfall caused high water levels in the River Wye, one of the longest rivers in the country which flows through mid Wales and south west England.
Yellow wind warning for all of England and Wales it remained in place until Sunday evening, with the Met Office warning that further strong winds of up to 70mph could cause possible short-term power outages.
The Energy Networks Association said around 161,000 customers were still without power at 2pm on Sunday due to damage caused by the storm, but added that 91% of affected customers were now connected.
A woman who lives by candlelight in Exton, Devon, said she felt “frustrated” and “annoyed” after struggling to contact National Grid to report the power outage from 5pm on Saturday.
Deb Knowles, 43, said she had been lighting candles and using a torch in her home and decided to take her sick children to her mother’s house on Sunday.
“My mum is in remission and getting this flu or a chest infection would be dangerous for her, but I have no choice, the children need warmth, hot water and food,” she said.
“I feel very annoyed and frustrated,” she said when asked how she felt about not being able to connect to the National Grid, adding that she had spoken to her neighbors and they were “all in the same situation”.
Theresa White, 55, said her family was forced to collect rainwater to flush toilets.
“We had no internet and all our phone signals were down, so we were basically cut off and living in a wooded area,” she said, adding that they were too scared to leave the house on Saturday in case a tree fell on them.
National Grid said its teams worked tirelessly over the weekend to restore supplies to the 1.3 million homes and businesses affected by Storm Darragh.
Director of field operations Roisin Quinn said: “We would like to thank customers for their patience while they waited for power to be restored. I would also like to thank our staff for their unwavering efforts to restore power to our customers.
“We have teams who have worked long hours away from their homes to get the lights back on in challenging conditions and for that we are grateful.”
The Environment Agency still had more than 50 flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected and more than 130 flood warnings across England since Sunday morning.
The video shows the British Airways plane struggling with strong winds as he attempted to land at London’s Heathrow on Saturday.
The bad weather caused restrictions on the rate of aircraft movements at the UK’s busiest airport, and similar air traffic control measures were still in place on Sunday, with the number of cancellations even higher.
British Airways alone has grounded more than 100 short-haul international flights and 30 domestic services to and from Heathrow. In total, at least 20,000 passengers are likely to be affected.
South Western Railway said services in Surrey, between Guildford and Effingham Junction and through Farncombe, faced delays or diversions until Sunday afternoon due to trees blocking the line earlier. Customers were advised to book their own taxi to nearby Epsom.
Avanti West Coast said all services between Wolverhampton and Stafford were closed due to a tree blocking the line, with disruption expected for the rest of the day.
Storm Darragh it brought 96 mph gusts to some parts of the country on Saturday.
On Sunday night, the first victim of the storm, who died when a tree fell on his van in Lancashire, was named locally as Paul Fiddler. He was driving his Citroen on the A59 at Longton, near Preston, at around 9am.
The football coach was described by Lytham Town FC, where he was assistant manager, as a “legend” of the club. with Mr. Fiddler killed along with another man by falling trees that hit their vehicles.
His niece, Kate Elliott, wrote on Facebook that he was “the best uncle ever”. She said, “I wish I could have known or even said goodbye to you. I miss you more than ever and you will always be in my heart.
West Midlands Police said another man died when a tree fell and hit his car on Silver Birch Road in Erdington this afternoon.
Overnight, nine cows were killed after a power line fell on a farm in west Cornwall during a storm.
Eric Murley, who runs a farm at Higher Bojewyan, said: “It looks like the cows were hiding under the hedge and this cable just happened to be right over them.”