UK weather forecast: Man dies off Cornwall coast as strong winds sweep in with flood warnings to come

Kit Heren21 August 2020

A man has died after being pulled from the sea as the public is urged to take care with 60mph winds battering parts of the UK.

The man, in his 50s, was rescued by emergency service workers near Helston in Cornwall but was confirmed to have died shortly afterwards, Devon and Cornwall police said.

A teenage boy, who is related to the man, was rescued and is in a stable condition in hospital in Truro.

It comes after a man and two children died when the car they were travelling in plunged into a river in County Donegal in Ireland on Thursday evening as Storm Ellen swept the country.

Waves hitting the Devon coast on Friday
PA

Gardai said the vehicle skidded and slipped down an embankment at Three Trees, Quigley’s Point and went into the water shortly before 10.30pm on Thursday.

The male driver, 49, and two children travelling in the back of the car, aged 14 and six, were killed. A female passenger, 45, managed to get out of the vehicle and look for help before later being treated for non-life-threatening injuries at Letterkenny University Hospital.

The deaths came amid a bout of extreme weather, as winds of up to 60mph around coasts and hills were set to hit the UK on Friday, with flood warnings also issued in parts of the country.

The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for wind covering all of England and Wales and parts of Scotland.

Waves up to 9ft high were also predicted and, together with the strong winds, could create dangerous seas and strong rip currents, leading authorities to warn the public to be cautious.

Waves hitting the Devon coast on Friday
Steve Parsons/PA

The coastguard has urged people to keep their distance from the waves, while the Royal National Lifeboat Institution advised visiting lifeguarded beaches whenever possible and to avoid storm watching if swells become high.

The RNLI tweeted on Friday: “The combination of winds, tides and swells is going to make for dangerous conditions that could put you into difficulty very quickly.”

Meanwhile Devon and Cornwall police warned that stormy conditions bring a risk of coastal surges and flooding in communities close to the sea.

Some 10 flood warnings were in place across parts of the UK on Friday afternoon – meaning flooding is expected – while the Environment Agency issued a further 35 flood alerts for swathes of the south-west.

People try to avoid waves crashing on the Front Strand in Youghal, Co. Cork, Ireland
PA

The Met Office said strong winds could lead to some delays to road, rail, air and ferry transport and possibly some temporary power disruption.

Meteorologist Emma Salter said it was “unusual” to have such stormy weather this time of year and emphasised its warnings were issued based on the potential impact of conditions.

She said: “If we had this set-up say in January or February we probably wouldn’t be issuing a warning, because 40, 50, 60mphs on the coast isn’t going to do much damage.”

But she added: “This time of year, when the trees are in full leaf they can be uprooted a lot more easily.”

Ms Salter continued: “Corona aside, there’s a lot of holidaymakers out, people in tents, it’s the weekend, there’s going to be a lot of traffic on the road, a lot of people camping… that’s why we’ve got the warning out.”

With additional reporting by PA