On a Sunday when Storm Boelo swept across the British Isles, the wind claimed two lives, one in a Dumfries and Galloway village and one on a quiet London street, and left tens of thousands of homes in the dark. It is the old story of weather reminding a crowded country how thin its margins are, from the falling tree to the flooded shop to the engineer waiting for conditions to allow safe work. Authorities urged people to stay indoors and kept watch as the strongest gusts moved east, while the Scottish government warned that the storm may not be finished with them.
Two Men Killed by Falling Trees as Storm Boelo Cuts Power to 90,000 UK Properties
Two men died after being struck by falling trees, two women were taken to hospital in Aberfeldy, and over 90,000 properties were without power.
Two men killed by falling trees, hundreds of miles apart
On a Sunday when Storm Boelo swept across the British Isles, the wind claimed two lives, one in a Dumfries and Galloway village and one on a quiet London street, and left tens of thousands of homes in the dark. It is the old story of weather reminding a crowded country how thin its margins are, from the falling tree to the flooded shop to the engineer waiting for conditions to allow safe work. Authorities urged people to stay indoors and kept watch as the strongest gusts moved east, while the Scottish government warned that the storm may not be finished with them.
At around 12:40 on Sunday afternoon, police were called to Dollis Road in Finchley after a tree crashed onto a moving car. The driver, a man in his twenties, died at the scene. Hours earlier, a 60-year-old man had been killed by a falling tree at Mid Kelton, near Castle Douglas, and minutes after the Finchley call, another tree came down in Aberfeldy, leaving two women needing hospital care. Storm Boelo had arrived as a day of fierce wind, with gusts reaching 85mph in Argyll and Bute.
The Met Office kept amber warnings across Scotland and parts of northern England until 21:00, urging people to stay indoors and keep away from trees and buildings. By evening, more than 90,000 properties had lost power, and when combined with Storm Austen earlier in the week, the figure reached 838,700. Engineers were held back by dangerous conditions, so restoring supply was slow for those still in the dark.
Water added to the damage. Heavy rain fell across the Scottish Highlands, and flood warnings covered parts of England, Wales and especially Scotland. The Clyde coast bore the worst of it: a main road between Skelmorlie and Largs was badly damaged, shops in Largs flooded overnight, and in Gourock a boat was left on the roadside. In Dumbarton, Muhammad Zubair Ashraf watched his mobile phone shop flood, a loss he estimated at several thousand pounds and described as heartbreaking.
Travel across the country was disrupted, with police urging people to avoid unnecessary journeys, ferries and trains affected, and flights cancelled at several airports. Scottish ministers met that afternoon and warned that conditions might ease but could return in the coming days, leaving communities watching the flood warnings and waiting for their power to come back.
At about 12:40 on Sunday afternoon, the Metropolitan Police were called to Dollis Road in Finchley, north London, after a tree came down on a moving car. The driver, a man in his 20s, was pronounced dead at the scene. He was one of two men killed that day by falling trees as Storm Boelo moved across the UK.
Chief Inspector Guy Ellwood, of the North West Command Unit, called it a deeply tragic incident and said the police's thoughts were with the young man's loved ones. The London Ambulance Service sent incident response officers, paramedics from its hazardous area response team, and a trauma team from London's Air Ambulance.
The first death came some hours earlier, in Scotland. Police Scotland said a 60-year-old man in Dumfries and Galloway died after being hit by a falling tree at Mid Kelton, near Castle Douglas. Around ten minutes after the Finchley call, at about 12:50, a separate tree fell in Aberfeldy, in Perth and Kinross, and two women were taken to hospital, police said.
The wind did the damage. Gusts peaked on Sunday morning at 85mph in Machrihanish, in Argyll and Bute, and at 84mph in both Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides and Capel Curig in north Wales. The Met Office kept an amber wind warning in force across Scotland and parts of northern England until 21:00, when it expired. A yellow warning covering other parts of the north of England, including Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle, along with parts of the East and West Midlands and North Wales, lapsed at the same hour. The Met Office had urged people to stay indoors as much as possible and, if they did go out, to avoid walking or sheltering close to buildings and trees. The strongest gusts kept moving eastwards through the day.
By 19:00 on Sunday, the Energy Networks Association said more than 90,000 properties had no electricity. Across Storm Austen, which struck on Friday, and Boelo, 838,700 properties in total faced power cuts. Restoration was slow for those still disconnected: the ENA said the dangerous conditions were limiting engineers' chances to start work safely.
Water compounded the wind. There were four flood warnings in England and Wales on Sunday and 17 in Scotland. Rainfall was heavy in the Scottish Highlands, peaking at 130mm at Cluanie Inn.
The Clyde coast towns were hit especially hard. The main road between Skelmorlie and Largs was badly damaged, and several businesses in Largs flooded overnight on Saturday. In Gourock, a boat ended up on the side of the road, and there were reports that Girvan was without power all through Sunday. In Dumbarton, on the north bank of the Clyde, Muhammad Zubair Ashraf's mobile phone shop flooded overnight. He put the damage at between £5,000 and £10,000 and said he was heartbroken at the scale of the loss.
Travel was disrupted across the country. Police in Scotland warned against unnecessary road journeys, ferry services were affected, and trains faced disruption. Some flights to and from Belfast, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dublin airports were cancelled.
Scottish government ministers and officials met on Sunday afternoon to discuss the storm's impact. In a statement, the government said conditions might ease later in the day but that adverse weather could return in the coming days, so the flood warnings and the slow work of reconnecting homes remain the things to watch.
Citas Notables
This is a deeply tragic incident and our thoughts are with the loved ones of the young man who lost his life.— Chief Inspector Guy Ellwood, Metropolitan Police
Dangerous conditions were limiting network engineers' opportunities to safely start the work.— Energy Networks Association
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