Weather: Major tourist attraction closes and planes struggle to land as Storm Kathleen leaves thousands without power
The storm has hit parts of the UK and Ireland, with Titanic Belfast forced to close on Saturday due to damage to its roof.
Sunday 7 April 2024 07:12, UK
Storm Kathleen has brought disruption to the UK and Ireland, with tens of thousands of people left without power, dozens of flights cancelled and a major tourist attraction forced to close.
Gusts of about 70mph have hit the island of Ireland and parts of Britain - with the conditions leaving planes struggling to land at Heathrow Airport.
A British Airways flight was forced to abort a landing at Heathrow, with its wheels kissing the runway before immediately taking back to the skies.
More than 140 flights departing and arriving at UK airports were cancelled on Saturday, including all Aer Lingus services at Belfast City Airport.
About 34,000 homes in Ireland were earlier left without power, with the outages concentrated in Mayo, Galway, Kerry and Cork. Around 12,000 customers remained without electricity on Saturday evening.
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Titanic Belfast was forced to close on Saturday due to damage to its roof caused by Storm Kathleen.
It said it had "taken the precautionary measure to close its building to the public for the remainder of today and tomorrow".
Customers who have booked visits will be refunded and the attraction will reopen on Monday, it added.
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Winds of 73mph were recorded in Drumalbin, Lanarkshire, the Met Office said.
The M48 Severn Bridge was closed in both directions to all traffic on Saturday night due to strong winds.
A yellow weather warning for wind is still in effect for Sunday and covers Eilean Siar and Highland, as well as Argyll and Bute in Scotland from 9am to 3pm.
Some parts of the UK saw warm weather as Saturday provisionally became the hottest day of the year so far.
The Met Office said the day's highest temperature of 20.9C was reached in Santon Downham, Suffolk, on Saturday afternoon.
As of 5am on Sunday, the Environment Agency (EA) has 20 flood warnings - where flooding is "expected" - and 120 flood alerts in England are in effect.
Forty-five red cautions for strong streams on the River Thames are still in place, with the EA advising users of all boats not to navigate.
National Resources Wales also has one flood warning and 15 flood alerts in effect as of Sunday morning.
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The Met Office warned there was a risk of "injuries and danger to life" from large waves and beach material being thrown on to sea fronts, coastal roads and properties.
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Met Office meteorologist Ellie Glaisyer said Storm Kathleen was "the reason we are seeing the warmer temperatures, because the location of the storm - situated out towards the west of the UK - is bringing a southerly wind across the UK".