A woman has been killed and 62,000 homes have suffered power cuts after extreme weather swept parts of UK – amid warnings another storm is set to batter the country with strong winds, snow and heavy rain within hours.
Police said the woman died after being hit by a fallen tree blown over in Aberdeen by gusts from Storm Malik.
But just hours after extensive damage caused by the weather conditions left 62,000 homes without power, meteorologists are warning another storm, named Corrie, is due to hit.
The storm will move eastwards through Scotland, continuing across the North Sea in the early hours of Monday.
Some of the damage from Storm Malik seen on Saturday morning in South Shields, South Tyneside. Pic: Adrian Jackson/Twitter
Gusts of 70-80mph are expected in the late afternoon and evening, reaching up to 90mph in exposed coastal areas and mountainous regions.
Sky’s meteorologist Chris England said Corrie “will bring strong winds to most later tomorrow and into Monday, with gales on northern and western coasts and hills which will be severe in places”.
“There’ll be some heavy rain in the north and west too, with snow on the Scottish hills,” he added.
The northern half of the UK has already seen strong winds on Saturday because of Storm Malik, which led the Met Office to issue several weather warnings.
Engineers have restored power to 26,000 customers so far, Northern Powergrid said.
Dan Suri, chief meteorologist at the Met Office said: “With back-to-back storms there could be updates to severe weather warnings, so keep an eye on the Met Office forecast.”
Yellow wind warning from Sunday
A yellow warning for wind is in place from 6pm on Sunday to mid-day on Monday, with some travel disruption expected.
The alert covers all of Scotland and stretches from Norwich to Manchester and Liverpool, reaching St Asaph in Wales and Newtonabbey in Northern Ireland.
Power cuts are possible, as well as injuries and “danger to life” from large waves and beach material being thrown up into the air.
Some roads and bridges could close, with cancellations possible on some public transport services.
Mobile phone coverage may be affected.
Strong winds on Saturday due to Storm Malik
Because of Storm Malik, an amber weather warning was issued for eastern Scotland from 7am to 3pm on Sunday.
Two Scottish Premiership fixtures due to be played today at Aberdeen and Dundee were postponed due to safety concerns about the weather.
A yellow wind warning was issued for Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England until 3pm on Saturday – while another will remain in place until 8pm in Orkney and Shetland.
The Met Office said some of the highest winds reported on Saturday were 93mph in Brizlee Wood, Northumberland, and 85mph in Inverbervie, Kincardineshire.
“Strong winds will continue for a time this afternoon though will start to ease into this evening,” the weather service said, saying northern areas were the ones affected.
In England and Wales, patchy rain will gradually clear southwards, allowing skies to brighten.
It will be a windy couple of days
Weather will remain windy early next week
Storm Corrie is set to clear on Monday, but the UK’s weather will remain blustery through the start of the week, with occasional spells of rain especially in the North West.
On the bright side, it will feel mild as temperatures over 10C are expected by Tuesday.