UPDATES WITH DEVELOPMENTS IN IRELAND; REVISES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE
By Burak Bir
LONDON (AA) - Tens of thousands of people in UK and nearly 400,000 in Ireland have been left without power as a powerful storm made landfall in Ireland and the UK on Saturday.
Over 370,000 homes and businesses are without power across Ireland, while tens of thousands of customers are now without power across the UK due to Storm Darragh.
Irish Taoiseach, or Prime Minister Simon Harris confirmed the number of people that were left without power, saying the Electricity Supply Board crews are working to restore power.
"This is major work & will take some time to be fully completed. Other agencies will assist where appropriate too & met this morning to plan that work," he wrote on X.
Currently, a red wind warning is in place for seven regions and a nationwide orange warning in Ireland.
In the UK, around 3 million people in Wales and southwestern England were warned Friday by the government to stay indoors as Storm Darragh has already hit parts of the country.
The message warned people of life-threatening danger due to “flying debris, falling trees and large waves around coastal areas.”
It followed a rare red warning, the most serious type, by Britain's Meteorological Office, earlier on Friday for wind.
According to the National Grid, more than 55,000 customers are now without power across southwestern England, southern Wales, and the West Midlands.
Mentioning an emergency cellphone alert sent to millions of people, it said this would be the largest ever use of the system outside a test scenario.
Several flights and train services have been delayed over the strong wind, with hundreds of cancellations and some aborted landings at Heathrow Airport in London, with others diverted to Germany.
Also Saturday's Merseyside derby between Everton and Liverpool was called off due to severe weather from the storm.
On X, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the government is working with local leaders and agencies on the ground to keep people safe.