Boy, 9, killed by falling tree in Staffordshire storm
A nine-year-old boy was killed in Staffordshire when a tree fell on him in strong winds caused by Storm Malik.
Police were called to the scene at Hollington Road, Winnothdale, near to Alton Towers, at 1pm on Saturday after reports that a tree had fallen on a boy and a man.
They were both taken to the Royal Stoke University Hospital.
A police spokesman said: “Sadly, despite the best efforts of medical staff, a nine-year-old boy passed away.
“The boy’s family are being supported by specially-trained officers. The man remains in hospital.
"A scene remains at the location, where people are asked to avoid the area. The death is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be prepared for the coroner.”
The boy’s death comes after a 60-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Aberdeen as strong winds from Storm Malik battered northern parts of the UK.
Police Scotland said that emergency services were called to Deveron Road in Aberdeen on Saturday at around 10.30am to reports of a sudden death of a 60-year-old woman.
A spokesman said: “There are no suspicious circumstances. A report will now be sent to the Procurator Fiscal.”
Winds of more than 100mph have been reported in parts of Scotland, with widespread disruption to travel and power supplies.
Weather warnings were in place across all of Scotland, northern England and parts of Northern Ireland for most of Saturday due to the high winds and rain.
The Met Office have said that another blast of severe strong winds, now officially named Storm Corrie, is set to hit parts of the UK.
It is set to move eastwards across Scotland on Sunday and push across the North Sea in the early hours of Monday.
The Met Office has issued an amber weather warning for wind across northern parts of Scotland from Sunday into Monday morning.
Chief meteorologist Dan Suri said: “Storm Corrie will bring very strong winds to the north of the UK, especially northern Scotland, on Sunday. This follows just one day after Storm Malik moves though also bringing a spell of very strong winds.
“Storm Corrie will bring gusts of up to 90mph in exposed coastal locations in northern Scotland, with 70-80mph gusts more widely in the north.”
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon described the impact of Storm Malik as “severe”.
She warned that once Malik subsides Storm Corrie may be more severe” than first anticipated in parts of the north and north-east of Scotland.
Ms Sturgeon also said in a statement on Twitter that some Scots could be without power over the weekend.
As of 10pm on Saturday, SSEN said around 23,000 households were without power, with the agency moving to “red alert” status.
A major incident was declared in County Durham on Saturday to deal with the devastation caused by Storm Malik.
On Saturday power supplies and mobile phone coverage were affected. Northern Powergrid said the storm had caused disruption and its teams were restoring power through alternative routes on its network “where possible, assessing damage and co-ordinating repairs wherever conditions permit”.
SP Energy Networks, the company responsible for electricity transmission in central and southern Scotland, issued safety advice around potential power cuts.
It said customers should keep a battery or wind-up torch to hand and keep mobile phones fully charged, and people should also beware of fallen power lines.
Network Rail said fallen trees had caused numerous services to be cancelled, including Inverness to Thurso, Perth to Aberdeen, Aberdeen to Dundee and Glasgow Queen Street to Oban.
Two Scottish Premiership games were postponed, with matches between Aberdeen and St Johnstone and Dundee and St Mirren called off due to safety concerns around the stadiums.
A statement on Aberdeen’s website read: “We have been working closely with emergency services and the SPFL throughout the morning, closely monitoring the situation in the hope that conditions might improve to allow the game to be staged, but ultimately the safety of supporters, players and staff is our paramount concern and we would ask everyone to continue to adhere to the guidance being given by Police Scotland.”
The Scottish Premiership confirmed that Dundee’s game at Dens Park was off due to high winds.
The Championship game between Arbroath and Partick Thistle was also cancelled with no new dates set for the games.
Residents in the west end of Glasgow were also evacuated from there homes over fears the high winds had exacerbated existing structural issues with the towers of Old Trinity College.
A spokesman for Glasgow City Council told the PA news agency that it would likely be “considerably longer than 24 hours” before residents could return home.
Residents in the west end of Glasgow were also evacuated from there homes over fears the high winds had exacerbated existing structural issues with the towers of Old Trinity College.
