So - now that it's mostly over in the London area - everyone affected OK? I just saw on the news that the highest gust recorded at Heathrow was 69 mph. I think I heard that one going through around 6am-ish. It sounded like a freight train was going up the path past my bedroom. Things started dying down around 7:30 here. No major damage to my place. The other downstairs flat has their fence lying in their garden but that's about it. Lots of leaves down but no trees here. And my satellite dish is still attached to its pole and roughly aimed in the right direction so that's a bonus. (It's motorized so it costs a small fortune to get a person out to re-aim it..)
The news has reported two deaths so far as a result of the storm. A 17 year old girl suffered fatal injuries while a tree came down on her home while she was sleeping, and a man in his 50s was pronounced dead after a tree crushed his car. Very sad to hear. Also, 220,000 homes are without power and commuters are stranded around England. There hasn't been too much damage around where I live, though.
I was up all night as I am a nocturnal kind of person, checking almost every noise. After noticing a "Preparing for the Storm" page on the BBC news website, I took the precaution of moving inside, or tying down some items in my back garden, so that they did not become wind-borne debris that might damage the house. Hope I didn't bring any lifeforms inside. House seems okay, not been out yet to investigate transport links. I took the precaution of booking Monday and Tuesday off from work, however a different aspect of RL requires that I go out into London if I can. Cheers for doing a check. Halibut, if there is anything I can do.
*Takes up a collection for Hal* Yeah, I took the opportunity to move my bird feeders inside on Sunday and I gave them a good cleaning. Put them back out earlier today and the sparrows are back at them.
It was supposed to be the worst storm in Gloucester for years. I had bedroom window open overnight and heard nothing. And couldn't see see any water anywhere. Mrs H went to Cardiff today and the train ran as normal. Bit of flooding outside Gloucester station, but we are renowned for being on a floodplain so that's to be expected.
Nothing much happened here, apart from some of the fence panels falling down in the neighbouring gardens (but that was likely given how old the fences are). I was concerned the aerial would move out of position or fall down, but it has been fine throughout. Glad nothing major happened, but also slightly disappointing. I expected more of this sort of thing: