Waves crash against the sea wall and lighthouse at Porthcawl, south Wales, on Saturday as storm darragh brings winds of nearly 90 mph to the west of Wales and north-west England — AFP LONDON, Dec 07 (AFP): Tens of thousands of people across the UK were left without power on Saturday morning after Storm Darragh hit the country with strong winds and caused pre-Christmas travel disruption.
The UK's Met Office had issued a rare red alert for high winds overnight to Saturday morning (0300 to 1100 GMT) covering parts of Wales and southwest England.
The government warned three million people living in the area with a siren-like alert on their phones to stay at home on Friday night.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the storm posed a "challenging situation".
"About three million homes will have had the emergency alert system to their mobile phone. I would just encourage anyone who has had that to follow the advice," Reynolds told Sky News on Saturday.
Darragh, the fourth named storm of the season, is also expected to bring heavy rain through the weekend, with more than 100 flood warnings and alerts in place across the UK.
In Wales, the Met Office estimated gusts of up to 150 kmph (93 mph), which knocked out power for over 50,000 people, according to the PA news agency.
Power cuts affected 86,000 homes in England, Scotland and Wales, according to the Energy Networks Association.
Network Rail Wales suspended trains on the Welsh northern coast due to a "fallen tree blocking the line", and several bridges in southern England and Wales were closed for safety reasons.
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