A 60-year-old man has died after being hit by a falling tree in Storm Boelo, police have confirmed. The incident occurred on a minor road in Dumfries and Galloway, western Scotland, at about 10.30am on Sunday, and the man was not in a vehicle at the time.
He was pronounced dead at the scene. A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “There are no suspicious circumstances and a report will be submitted to the procurator fiscal in due course.”
Storm Causes Widespread Disruption
The storm eased to the east on Sunday evening after battering northern parts of the UK with gusts reaching 84mph. An amber wind warning remains in place until 9pm, having activated hours after the first named storm of the season, Austen, petered out from the south-west.
Footage showed floodwater coursing around the town of Largs, North Ayrshire, on Sunday. Staff at its Thai restaurant Tha-Tien-Thai shared a video of their kitchen over-run by water with the caption: “There is nothing left.” It closed its doors for the foreseeable “due to larger flood restoration than originally planned”.
Travel Chaos and Flood Alerts
Some flights were diverted from landing at Leeds Bradford Airport and others were cancelled. An airport spokesperson thanked customers for their patience, adding: “We appreciate that this is a challenging situation. Our teams are working in very difficult conditions to support passengers as best they can.”
Train journeys were also disrupted. Network Rail Scotland shared an image of flooding from the tracks to the platform in one Glasgow station and fallen trees above the lines near another. Speed restrictions are in place across Scotland and several sections of its railways have been closed, the operator added.
Collapsed trees, cables on carriageways, strong winds and damaged surfaces prompted closures to major roads in Scotland.
Warnings and Comparisons to Previous Storms
The amber Met Office warning zone includes Scotland, parts of Northern Ireland and the far north of England. It sits within a yellow wind warning zone that reaches further south and runs until 9pm.
Storm Boelo follows Storm Austen, which brought strong winds to southern parts of the UK on Friday. Gusts of 76mph were recorded at St Mary’s Airport in the Isles of Scilly, with 74mph at Aberporth in south Wales and 71mph at Culdrose in Cornwall.
Met Office meteorologist Craig Snell said it is hard to compare storm to storm because they affect different areas and “if a branch falls on your car in one, then you’re probably going to feel like that one was the worst storm ever”. Storm Amy brought a gust of about 92mph and more than 100ml of rain to similar parts of the UK last year.
Storms often happen in quick succession, he said, pointing to storms Bert, Conall and Darragh appearing in about one week in 2024. “If the atmosphere is ripe for storm, it tends to mean it’s ripe for a couple of storms, so it is a fairly common thing.”
Forecasters are monitoring another low pressure system moving in on Monday and Tuesday. It does not appear as potent as storms Austen and Boelo and there are no current plans to name it, but it will bring further wet and windy weather. The country can expect a return to more dry and settled conditions after that, Mr Snell said.
Storm Boelo has brought a danger to life from flying debris and crashing waves and people should stay indoors as much as possible, the Met Office warned. The Environment Agency had issued 12 warnings that flooding is expected for spots in northern parts of England as of 5pm, as well as 59 alerts where it is possible. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency said 11 flood warnings and 11 flooding alerts were active as of the same time.
