'Weather Bomb' Batters Northern Britain

Waves of 52ft have been recorded and thousands of homes left without power as a "weather bomb" rolls across the UK.

As well as disruption to energy supplies, the severe storm caused ferry and train cancellations and school closures in the north of Britain on Wednesday.

The Met Office earlier issued amber "be prepared" weather alerts for western Scotland, the Highlands, Northern Ireland, Orkney and Shetland and Strathclyde regions, which have since been downgraded to yellow "be aware" warnings.

The same warnings have also been issued across England's South East, South West, North East, North West, Yorkshire and Humber, as well as in northern Wales and several other areas.

More southerly areas of the UK are likely to be hit by a second storm due to roll in from the Atlantic on Thursday night.

Waves 52ft high - measured as "phenomenal" on the Douglas Sea Scale - were recorded off the Outer Hebrides.

Gale-force gusts of more than 80mph also struck some northern coastal areas.

Wind speeds of 144mph were recorded on St Kilda, an uninhabited archipelago which is 41 miles west of Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides.

According to the Met Office, the highest recorded wind speed at low level sites was 81mph on Tiree.

Off the coast of Orkney, a rescue operation was launched to help a British-registered fishing vessel which issued a Mayday call after getting into difficulties.

The 33ft trawler, with 16 Spanish crew, had one of its bridge windows smashed and some equipment damaged in the stormy conditions.

The O'Genita was escorted to Westray in Orkney by the Stromness lifeboat.

Twenty vehicles had to be freed after becoming stuck in icy conditions on Cairn O' Mount, a high mountain pass, in Aberdeenshire.

There were delays on the Forth Road Bridge, which connects Edinburgh and Fife, after a lorry driver failed to heed signs warning it is closed to high-sided vehicles.

Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution (SHEPD) engineers said it has restored power to more than 28,000 homes which were earlier without power, but that 2,800 customers remain cut off.

Gale-force winds also battered the northern coast of Ireland, with the counties of Donegal, Londonderry and Antrim the worst hit.

Power shortages were reported on both sides of the border, and ferry travel to Scotland was disrupted, with a number of sailings cancelled or delayed.

The extreme conditions are being caused by rapid cyclogenesis - known colloquially as a "weather bomb" - a deep low pressure system moving slowly eastwards between Scotland and Iceland.

Sky News weather producer Rebecca Yussuf said: "Scotland, Northern Ireland, northern England and northern parts of the Republic will continue to be very windy until the end of the evening, with gusts of 50 to 60mph, and up to 70mph over the exposed coasts.

"It will remain very windy there overnight, with high waves and the risk of travel disruption."

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