UK and Ireland begin storm clean-up

LONDON

A massive clean-up operation is underway in the U.K. and Ireland after the countries were battered by storms and floods.

Hundreds of homes remain flooded and thousands more are without electricity after Storm Frank passed through northern England, Scotland and Ireland, bringing high winds and causing rivers to burst their banks.

Authorities in Ireland said about 3,000 houses and businesses were still without electricity but that 130,000 customers had been reconnected since losing power over the last four days.

In Scotland, the body of a kayaker – thought to be a man in his fifties – was recovered from River Findhorn in the country’s north after he went missing during the storms.

And BP evacuated one of its oil platforms in the North Sea after a barge’s anchor broke off in the rough seas, sending it on a collision course with the structure. The vessel later passed the platform safely.

Britain and Ireland have been struck by a series of heavy storms in recent weeks, aided in part by the unseasonably warm weather. Weather agencies reported this month was the warmest December on record in England, Scotland and Wales.

The rains are expected to subside over the next day, although gusts of up to 110 km an hour are forecast for New Year’s Eve in Ireland. Further storms are expected to follow during the weekend, bringing more rain to the already saturated ground.

LONDON

A massive clean-up operation is underway in the U.K. and Ireland after the countries were battered by storms and floods.

Authorities in Ireland said about 3,000 houses and businesses were still without electricity but that 130,000 customers had been reconnected since losing power over the last four days.

In Scotland, the body of a kayaker – thought to be a man in his fifties – was recovered from River Findhorn in the country’s north after he went missing during the storms.