Thousands of houses with out energy as Storm Lilian hit Britain

Thousands of homes have been left in the dark, and Bank Holiday getaways have been dashed by flight cancellations as Storm Lilian continues to batter parts of Britain. 

Festival revellers at Creamfields, Reading and Leeds have also been caught up in the weather chaos, which has seen campers wrestle with winds to keep tents on the ground.

To the dismay of campers who have been the stormy weather overnight, Leeds Festival has been forced to close its BBC Radio 1 stage and its Aux stage. 

As organisers remain hopeful they won’t have to sacrifice any more performances, commuters in Manchester have faced travel chaos with most of MetroLink routes suspended. 

This comes shortly after Met Office issued ‘danger to life’ alerts as Storm Lilian is expected to wreak travel havoc across the country, with motorists urged to take caution on the roads, 

Countless of homes across Cheshire, Yorkshire and North Staffordshire  were left without power this morning as storm caused disruption in the region.

SP Energy Networks has reported outages across Cheshire with some restored, but thousands of homes remaining without power. 

The power cuts are currently ongoing in Chester, Tarporley, Knutsford, Warrington, Lymm, Runcorn, Norley, Malpas, Nantwich, Alsager, and Northwich.

Three hundred houses in Durham as well as 80 houses in Yorkshire were also left without electricity overnight. 

Over 1,300 homes in North Staffordshire were hit with power cuts affecting Madeley, Keele, Bignall End and Halmerend and other nearby areas.

As it stands National Grid is reporting 80 properties affected around Madeley and Keele, 1,173 across Bignall End and Halmerend, 54 over High lane and Brown Edge, 20 in Longsdon and Kidsgrove, and 37 in Cheddleton.

British Airways has cancelled 14 flights scheduled to take off from Heathrow today and delayed others, according to the airline’s website.

The cancellations include international flights to Italy, Switzerland and the US as well as domestic journeys to Scotland and Northern Ireland.

But it’s not only aircrafts that have been brought to a standstill,  as travel chaos ensues on the railways with a train crashing into a tree in Kent this morning. 

It was a commuter’s nightmare in Wrexham, Chester, Carlisle, Chester  as well as in other northern cities as services were delayed or cancelled.

On the Humber Bridge in East Yorkshire a lorry almost toppled over as Storm Lilian’s 60mph winds dragged its wheels off the floor.

Daniel Garner and his colleagues were driving over the 100ft bridge around 7.30am this morning when they spotted the HGV.

The ‘worried’ tarmacer revealed he had never seen anything like the incident before. 

Shortly after, Humber Bridge’s official Twitter account announced they were closed to ‘high-sided and wind vulnerable vehicles’ at 7.34am and a speed limit of 20mph was imposed.

Daniel said: ‘I was worried it was going to go over the side.

‘We could tell as we were coming up the bridge how bad it was and we’d seen the wind was at 30mph but within a few minutes it was 60mph.

‘I saw the lorry tip a little bit so I got my phone out and then it nearly went over a couple of times.

‘If he’d have slowed down I would have got out and helped him but he carried on and got to the other side.

‘I posted the video to advise people not to go over because I’ve never seen anything like it. I couldn’t stop watching the video.’

The lorry comes agonisingly close to tipping over as it travelled across the bridge over the River Humber on two occasions – with its left side appearing to lean precariously over the barriers. 

Elsewhere in Anglesey, north Wales, surfers used the crashing winds to their advantage and have taken to the waves this morning.

It comes as Met Office issued two yellow weather warnings were issued for rain in south-west Scotland and the Aberdeenshire coast from 9pm on Thursday to 9am on Friday, as the country braced for Storm Lilian. 

The Met Office has also urged drivers to take care on the roads, and warned revellers at Leeds Festival to secure the tents as the storm is set to batter northern parts of England and Wales. 

Gusts of up to 80mph are also expected, with travel disruption, flooding, power cuts and dangerous conditions near coastal areas likely, according to the forecaster. 

There is the possibility of thunder, while 20-30mm of rainfall is expected widely across both areas – with a chance of 40-50mm over higher ground.

The Met Office says people in the area should expect ‘spells of rain, heavy at times, likely to cause some travel disruption and perhaps flooding in a few places’.

At 5am this morning, the Met Office took to X (formerly Twitter): ‘Winds are now strengthening in many areas with the strongest winds occurring during the next few hours across northern England and north Wales

‘Damaging gusts are possible in places so ensure you stay weather aware.’

It comes as Storm Lilian is already affecting roads outside of the expected regions, as the M48 Severn Bridge has been closed in both directions. 

National Highways have urged motorists to use the M4 Prince of Wales Bridge, due to the alternative being closed due to strong winds.  

Met Office forecaster Greg Dewhurst said: ‘The strongest winds are likely to start forming through the early hours initially across parts of north Wales into the Liverpool, Blackpool area, and then crossing over the Pennines and into the east and north-east England – Yorkshire, up to Northumberland before then clearing out into the North Sea.

‘So it’s really quite quick.’

Warning campers at Leeds Festival, Mr Dewhurst added: ‘The wind will pick up in that area through the night, particularly strongest towards dawn and then first thing in the morning, before then easing through the morning.

‘So there could be potentially some impacts from those strong winds, of 50 to 60mph in the area so it’s worth making sure your tents are secured.

‘There could also be disruption first thing to the transport networks for those travelling first thing.’

A yellow weather warning for rain is in place across much of South East England from 6am to 1pm on Saturday.

The warning stretches from the Isle of Wight up to Ipswich in Suffolk and includes London.

The Met Office says people in the area should expect ‘spells of rain, heavy at times, likely to cause some travel disruption and perhaps flooding in a few places’.

Parts of the north and northwest will have can expect fairly unpredictable weather moving into the weekend. 

According to the forecaster, various fronts moving in will bring more persistent rain, particularly for parts of western Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Lilian is the 12th named storm of the season – the furthest the Met Office have got through the list since it was introduced – and the first since April.

Storms are named when they have the potential to cause disruption or damage which could result in an amber or red warning, the Met Office said.

The RAC estimated that 19.2 million leisure trips by car would be made over the weekend, with 3.2 million on Friday alone.

This is highest since the motoring services company began recording data for the summer bank holiday in 2015.

RAC Breakdown spokeswoman Alice Simpson said the adverse weather and large volume of expected trips represented ‘a perfect storm’ for drivers.

She said: ‘Anyone driving in areas impacted by Storm Lilian should try to avoid exposed coasts and higher routes where there’s a greater chance of fallen branches and trees. It’s vital to lower your speeds and leave plenty of extra stopping distance to allow yourself time to react quickly. 

‘Drivers should keep a firm grip on the steering wheel and take extra care when passing high-sided vehicles which can cause an unnerving buffeting effect when you’re suddenly hit by the wind on the other side.’

A Network Rail spokeswoman said: ‘We are closely monitoring the potential impact that the storm might have on the rail network.

‘We have teams on hand to put in appropriate measures, if necessary, to ensure that we can continue to run trains safely and as reliably as possible.’

Regarding recent cancellations in light of the storm, A British Airways spokesperson said: ‘Due to restrictions imposed by Air Traffic Control as a result of adverse weather across the UK, we’ve made some minor adjustments to our schedule. 

‘We’ve apologised to our customers for the disruption to their travel plans and to help get them to their destinations as quickly as possible.’