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Thousands of people are facing another night without power after Storm Darragh caused chaos across the country over the weekend.
Areas such as Hereford are experiencing flooding after heavy rainfall caused high water levels in the River Wye, one of the longest rivers in the country which runs through mid-Wales and southwest England.
It came as planes struggled to land at London Heathrow Airport, with cancellations leaving thousands of passengers stranded.
A yellow wind warning for the whole of England and Wales also remained in place until Sunday evening, with the Met Office warning further strong winds of up to 70mph could cause possible short-term loss of power.
The Energy Networks Association said around 161,000 customers were still without power as of 2pm on Sunday due to the damage caused by the storm, but added 91% of affected customers now had their connection restored.
A woman living by candlelight in Exton, Devon, said she feels “frustrated” and “annoyed” after struggling to contact National Grid to report a power cut since 5pm on Saturday.
Deb Knowles, 43, said she was lighting candles and using a torch in her house and decided to take her unwell children to her mother’s house on Sunday.
“My mum is in remission and catching this flu or chest infection would be dangerous for her, but I have no choice, the kids need warmth, hot water and food,” she said.
“I feel very annoyed and very frustrated,” she said when asked how she feels about not being able to get through to National Grid, adding she has spoken to her neighbours and they are “all in the same sort of situation”.
Theresa White, 55, said her family were forced to collect the lashing rainwater to flush the toilets.
“We had no internet and all our phone signals weren’t working, so we were basically cut off and we do live in a wooded area,” she said, adding they were too scared to leave the house on Saturday in case a tree fell on them.
The National Grid said its teams worked tirelessly over the weekend to restore supplies to 1.3m homes and businesses affected by Storm Darragh.
Field operations director Roisin Quinn said: “We would like to thank customers for their patience while waiting for power to be restored. I’d also like to thank our staff for their unwavering efforts to restore power to our customers.
“We have teams who have been working long hours away from their own homes to get the lights back on in challenging conditions and we are grateful to them for that.”
The Environment Agency still had more than 50 flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, and more than 130 flood alerts in place across England as of Sunday morning.
Footage showed a British Airways plane battling strong winds while attempting to land at London Heathrow on Saturday.
Severe weather triggered restrictions on the rate of aircraft movements at the UK’s busiest airport, and similar air traffic control measures were still in effect on Sunday, with the number of cancellations even higher.
British Airways alone has grounded more than 100 short-haul international flights and 30 domestic services to and from Heathrow. In total, at least 20,000 passengers are likely to be affected.
South Western Railway said services in Surrey, between both Guildford and Effingham Junction and through Farncombe, faced delays or alterations until Sunday afternoon due to trees blocking the track earlier. Customers were advised to book their own taxis to nearby Epsom.
Avanti West Coast said all lines were closed between Wolverhampton and Stafford due to a tree blocking the line, with disruption expected until the end of the day.
Storm Darragh brought gusts of 96mph to some parts of the country on Saturday, with two men killed by falling trees hitting their vehicles.
West Midlands Police said the latest victim was killed when a tree fell and hit his car on Silver Birch Road, Erdington, in the afternoon.
Earlier in the day, a man died after a tree fell onto his van in Lancashire. The man, in his fourties, was driving his Citroen vehicle on the A59 at Longton, near Preston, at about 9am.
Overnight, nine cows were killed after a power cable came down at a west Cornwall farm during the storm.
Eric Murley, who runs the farm in Higher Bojewyan, said: “It looks as though the cows were sheltering under a hedge and it just so happened that this cable was right above them.”
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