UK issues rare red weather warning over powerful Storm Eunice

We've had it extended to Southampton. No risk of flooding here, this is an old city founded by the Anglo Saxons, steep hills rising up from the docks and the mouths of two rivers.

https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera/photos/pcb.10160609456448690/10160609456068690/

Storm Eunice blows off rooftops with highest wind speeds on record in England
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/18/world/storm-eunice-landfall-weather-climate-intl-gbr/index.html

The accounts have been horrific. And depressingly familiar. No exit.

I'm thinking Izzy and others lost power.

The local hobby craft lost power, my dil wanted some art supplies so we drove out there only to be met by the man with the worst job in the world, standing in the pouring rain telling everyone the place was shut.

People weren't happy to hear it either.

Two things:

Why didn't he just put a note on the door?

Why were people so unhappy a hobby craft store was closed? It's not like it was a supermarket.

It's a big garden centre with a massive car park.

I didn't ask any questions, it was chucking it down.

Last night, we've got the third storm with gale-force gusts within four days.
The 'usual' damage, flight and train cancellations etc. Four people died.

This (early) morning, around 100 residents had to flee a building in Essen after being woken up by a fire in the middle of the night. 35 flats out of 38 are completely destroyed. The flames were reportedly fanned by the last storm.