Warnings of more bad weather after two killed during Storm Malik

A boy and a woman were killed by falling trees

Author: Abi SimpsonPublished 30th Jan 2022

The UK is bracing itself for more bad weather after two people were killed by falling trees during Storm Malik.

A nine year-old boy and a 60 year-old woman were killed yesterday in Staffordshire and Aberdeen.

Staffordshire Police said a man is in hospital after the incident which killed the boy.

Police were called to Hollington Road, Winnothdale, near to Tean, at 1pm on Saturday after reports that a tree had fallen on a boy and a man, and they were both taken to the Royal Stoke University Hospital.

A spokesman said: “Sadly, despite the best efforts of medical staff, a nine-year-old boy passed away.

“The boy’s family are being supported by specially-trained officers. The man remains in hospital.

“A scene remains at the location, where people are asked to avoid the area. The death is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be prepared for the coroner.”

The boy’s death comes after a 60-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Aberdeen as strong winds from Storm Malik battered northern parts of the UK.

Police Scotland said that emergency services were called to Deveron Road in Aberdeen on Saturday at around 10.30am to reports of a sudden death of a 60-year-old woman.

A spokesman said: “There are no suspicious circumstances. A report will now be sent to the Procurator Fiscal.”

A woman in Greater Manchester had to be freed from her car after a tree fell on it.

Winds of more than 100mph have been reported in parts of Scotland, with widespread disruption to travel and power supplies.

Weather warnings were in place across all of Scotland, northern England and parts of Northern Ireland for most of Saturday due to the high winds and rain.

The Met Office have said that another blast of severe strong winds, now officially named Storm Corrie, is set to hit parts of the UK.

It is set to move eastwards across Scotland on Sunday and push across the North Sea in the early hours of Monday.

The Met Office has issued an amber weather warning for wind across northern parts of Scotland from Sunday into Monday morning.

Yellow warnings for parts of Northern England have also been issued.

Chief meteorologist Dan Suri said: “Storm Corrie will bring very strong winds to the north of the UK, especially northern Scotland, on Sunday. This follows just one day after Storm Malik moves though also bringing a spell of very strong winds.

“Storm Corrie will bring gusts of up to 90mph in exposed coastal locations in northern Scotland, with 70-80mph gusts more widely in the north.”

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon described the impact of Storm Malik as “severe”.

She warned that once Malik subsides Storm Corrie may be more severe” than first anticipated in parts of the north and north-east of Scotland.

As of 10pm on Saturday, SSEN said around 23,000 households were without power, with the agency moving to “red alert” status.

A major incident was declared in County Durham on Saturday to deal with the devastation caused by Storm Malik.

On Saturday power supplies and mobile phone coverage were affected. Northern Powergrid said the storm had caused disruption and its teams were restoring power through alternative routes on its network “where possible, assessing damage and co-ordinating repairs wherever conditions permit”.

Network Rail said fallen trees had caused numerous services to be cancelled, including Inverness to Thurso, Perth to Aberdeen, Aberdeen to Dundee and Glasgow Queen Street to Oban.

Yellow warnings for wind kick in from 3pm this afternoon through until midday tomorrow, while amber warnings further north come into force from 5pm, through until tomorrow morning.

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