Woman rescued from car and roof torn from house: Storm Agnes hits with 80mph winds

28 September 2023, 09:42

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A woman had to be rescued from her car after getting stranded amid strong winds brought by Storm Agnes.

The woman was trapped in her car, which was submerged in a river in County Londonderry in Northern Ireland, as Agnes brought 80mph winds, heavy rain and flooding to the island.

Firefighters found the car and hauled the woman out. She was taken to hospital to be treated for hypothermia and shock.

Elsewhere, a roof was torn off a house in County Cork by the sheer force of the winds.

An easyJet plane was unable to land in Belfast on Wednesday afternoon because of "winds gusting outside the limits of the aircraft".

There were power cuts in the south-west of England, Wales and the Scilly Islands on Wednesday as the storm moved westwards. Winds reached 79mph winds in Capel Curig, a village in Wales, on Wednesday evening.

Floor warnings remain in place in the UK as Storm Agnes continued to moves over Great Britain on Thursday, although Agnes, the first named storm of the autum, was starting to ease by Thursday morning.

Met Office meorologist Dan Stroud said: "It's an improving picture across England and Wales but there's still some very strong gusts actually further north across Northern Ireland and Scotland.

"But we're expecting the peak of the wind gusts in Storm Agnes to gradually ease during the overnight period."

More rain is expected to sweep over from west to east on Thursday afternoon and evening, although this will have largely dissipated by Friday morning.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) had warned of "dangerous conditions" on the Irish coasts.

Clifden and Achill Island RNLI braved the storm to rescue a lone sailor in a vessel located 10 miles west of Clare Island. Read More: Weather warning updated as 'rapidly intensifying' Storm Agnes set to batter Britain

Read More: Exact date UK to hit 24C in 'mini-heatwave' after Storm Agnes batters Britain

The rescue organisation said in a statement: "Sea conditions at the time were very difficult and the lifeboat crews faced four meter swells, driving rain and Force 8 winds out at sea."

Alerts triggered by Storm Agnes included a wind warning until 7am on Thursday, which was cancelled early on Thursday morning.

The warning stretched across Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, as well as the south-west of England, the West Midlands and most of the north of England.

There were also rain warnings for much of Scotland until Thursday at 3am.

After the storm, temperatures are expected to reach as high as 24C in some areas in the south of England.