According to the Met office blog Storm ‘Katie may never have been destined to be a record-breaker, but nonetheless she certainly swept dramatically over southern Britain during the night of Easter Sunday and into the morning on Easter Monday’.
Greater London was the hardest hit by the storm with wind gusts of upto 97 kmph reported. In Woodley, Berkshire which is just west of London the strong winds caused scaffolding to collapse off a rooftop.
The Needles which is located at the extreme western edge of the Isle of Wright experienced the peak gusts of Katie with upto 167 kmph. Dangerous winds of around 100 kmph were reported in Bournemouth, Odiham, Southend and Lydd. These strong winds impacted more than 100 flights from London-Gatwick and London-Heathrow airports on Monday.
More than 80,000 power cuts were reported due to storm Katie. There were many reports of tree damage and downed power lines which left thousands without power.
Storm Katie also caused heavy rainfall across southern England with widespread rainfall of upto 38 mm reported at Charlwood and Kenley. Flooding was also reported at several places which resulted in several road closures. All this rain and damaging winds have caused major travel delays with further delays expected.
While southern England experienced heavy downpours, there was wintery conditions across the higher terrains.
Unsettled weather is likely to continue on Tuesday across England and Wales with several showers affecting the region during the afternoon and evening.
Image Credit: standard.co.uk