A teenager has died after his car was hit by a falling tree during high winds in Storm Eowyn.
The 19-year-old man was driving a blue Ford Focus on the B743 near Mauchline, Ayrshire, when the car was struck around 6.45am on Friday.
He was rushed to Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow for treatment, where he died on Saturday.
Sergeant Chris McColm of the Road Policing Unit said: ‘Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the man who died.’
A severe red weather warning was issued by the Met Office nationwide starting at 10 am on Friday due to hurricane-force winds and falling debris, which could endanger lives.
A Met Office map has displayed three days of weather warnings and predicted up to four inches of snow in parts of Northern Ireland and Scotland.
The strong winds and heavy rain hitting the country are the remnants of Storm Eowyn, which has already claimed the life of a 20-year-old man when a falling tree struck him while he was speaking to his father.
The day began with mostly pleasant weather, described as ‘fine and dry’ with a good amount of sunshine in many areas. This morning, a wind gust of 82 mph was recorded in Predannack, located in south Cornwall.
The 19-year-old man was driving a blue Ford Focus on the B743 near Mauchline, Ayrshire, when the car was struck around 6.45am on Friday (pictured before the storm)
Storm Eowyn arrives with force in Scotland. Irvine harbour is flooded during the storm
Storm damage in Dechmont in West Lothian, January 25, 2025
Workers clear debris from the roof blown off a leisure centre during storm Eowyn on January 25, 2025 in Helensburgh, Scotland
But a new low-pressure system is moving in from the south west bringing further strong winds and heavy rain.
Spanish meteorologists have dubbed it Storm Herminia, as the European country will feel the strongest winds.
It is forecast to hit the south west of England and Wales first and then move into Northern Ireland and northern England on Sunday afternoon, reaching parts of Scotland by the evening.
Around 35,000 properties in Scotland were still without power on Saturday evening, a spokesperson for the Scottish Government said.
A massive £500million clear-up and repair operation is underway across Scotland after the ‘storm of the century’ caused widespread havoc and devastation.
Weather experts admitted that Storm Eowyn’s terrifying 100mph winds on Friday were more powerful than anything seen since the 1990s.
Yesterday, Northern Ireland Electricity Networks said 189,000 homes and businesses didn’t have electricity due to the damage and it is expected to take a few days to restore.
The Met Office has said Storm Eowyn is the strongest to hit the British Isles in at least 10 years.
Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said: ‘It’s also going to be wet and windy over the next few days in southern parts of the UK in particular.
Harsh gusts of wind were seen blowing over large bins in a Tesco carpark in Ayrshire, Scotland, on January 24, 2025
Storm Eowyn left more than a million people without power and caused significant travel disruption across the UK and Ireland
Ice skating rink collapse during the storm Eowyn in Blanchardstown, suburb of Dublin on January 24, 2025 in Dublin, Ireland
‘In most parts of the UK we’re going to have some very wet and at times also very windy weather over today and Monday.
‘But from Tuesday onwards, I’m expecting it generally to stay fairly changeable, but some showers at times and quite windy, but not as disruptive as it has been – I think overall, probably warnings are less likely from Tuesday onwards.
‘Certainly tonight in the south east of the UK, we could see some briefly very strong winds, and we could also see some very strong winds across Cornwall and Devon tomorrow in particular’.
Coastal parts of those areas will ‘very likely’ see 60mph to 70mph gusts.
There may also be very localised 70mph to 80mph gusts in the South East during Sunday night.
A yellow wind warning runs between 10pm on Sunday and 7am on Monday and covers the the east, south east, south west and north west of England.
Gusts of 55-65mph are possible overnight and there is a small chance they could reach 80mph, the Met Office said.
It also spans the West Midlands and Yorkshire.
A yellow warning for heavy rain, thundery showers and some localised flooding is active for parts of central and southern England from 8am on Sunday to 6am on Monday.
It is forecast that 10mm to 20mm of rain will fall quite widely, nearing 30mm to 50mm on higher ground.
Further heavy rain on Sunday evening could bring it up to 80mm in a few places.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.Â
