A second man has died in Storm Darragh after his vehicle was hit by a falling tree, police have confirmed, as weather warnings remain in place across the UK.
There were gusts of nearly 100mph in some parts of the country on Saturday and more than a quarter of a million people were left without power in the west of England and Wales.
A man in his 40s was killed when a tree fell on his van on the A59 at Longton, near Preston, at about 9am on Saturday. The second man died in Erdington, Birmingham, just after 3pm in a similar incident: a falling tree hit his car.
At 3am, a bus driver was taken to hospital after his Translink airport express bus left the road and hit a wall near Antrim in Northern Ireland.
Capel Curig in north Wales recorded wind speeds of 96mph on Saturday, after a “risk to life” alert was sent to about 3 million people on Friday evening.
Sporting events, such as the derby between Everton and Liverpool, were called off, and ferries and flights were cancelled, with those seeking to come into the UK being diverted as far as Germany.
A yellow weather warning for wind remains in place across England, Wales and the southern tip of Scotland, with a separate warning in the north-east of England for rain. As much as 60mm could fall over the high ground of the Cheviots, Pennines and North York Moors, the Met Office said.
The Environment Agency has issued a total of 65 flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, while a further 152 flood alerts are in place, where flooding is regarded as possible. Wales has a further 21 flood warnings, with two in Scotland.
An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “Local flooding from rivers and surface water is probable in parts of the West Midlands, north-east and north-west England on Sunday.
“Local flooding may continue into Monday and Tuesday along parts of the River Severn in Shropshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire until Tuesday. Land, roads and some properties could flood and there could be travel disruption.”
Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, the deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, said there needed to be greater environmental protections to help tackle flooding in the future, especially with Labour’s plan to build 1.5m homes over the next five years.
“Absolutely right we have to look at that with my 1.5m homes, we have to make sure that we take environmental factors into place.”
She said it had been 30 years since a reservoir was built and it was important to “deliver that infrastructure we desperately need”.
She added: “So yes we have to invest because otherwise we won’t be able to get the houses and the new infrastructure and jobs that we desperately need and the growth.”
