ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE CUMBRIA LOCAL RESILIENCE FORUM
Partner agencies have been working together in response to the impact of strong winds from Storm Eowyn, providing support to any residents, communities and businesses affected by the weather. This has included dealing with power outages, road accidents, as well as clearing debris and fallen trees from roads.
An Amber weather warning for strong winds for the whole of Cumbria is in place until the evening of Friday 24 January.
A multi-agency response is in action and Cumbria Local Resilience Forum (LRF) has met to ensure any response is coordinated so communities can access any help and support they need. This has included representatives from the Met Office, Cumbria Police, Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service, health bodies, Electricity North-West and the two local authorities, Cumberland Council and Westmorland and Furness Council.
Some of the early impacts include:
• Damage to the temporary canopy installed as part of the RAAC replacement on the Sands’ auditorium roof in Carlisle.
• A number of road closures due to debris. Cumberland Council was dealing with around 80 road incidents reported to them at midday with closures to the A596 between Northside roundabout and Lowca Lane in Workington, Shaddongate in Carlisle as well as Newmarket Street due to situation at the Sands Centre.
• The A66 road between Penrith and Scotch Corner is closed and the Highways teams in Westmorland and Furness Council area reported they were extremely busy responding to incidents of fallen trees and other debris on minor roads.
• Disruption to bin collections across the county, with Cumberland Council cancelling all collections on the Friday for safety reasons.
• Power outages reported across the county.
Residents are urged to take extreme care if they do have to make any journeys due to debris on the roads – and would caution against vehicles such as HGVs using exposed roads such as the M6 due to a number of lorries having blown over today.
Karl Melville from Cumberland Council, and current chair of the multi-agency group, said: “It’s been a very busy day for all our partner agencies and we’ve been working together to ensure we have a coordinated response to the impacts of Storm Eowyn.
“Our advice remains the same – we would ask people to prepare and follow the guidance being given in the media and on social media to minimise the ongoing impact.
“Thankfully, the winds are predicted to ease as the day progresses, but the work and clean-up will continue into the night and over the weekend. I’d therefore ask everyone to take extra care on the roads especially after nightfall, and observe any road closure signs for their own safety.”
Some residents, particularly in the north of the county, may have received an emergency alert advising of a red weather warning. The LRF wanted to reassure people that this was not sent by the Cumbrian authorities, and related to the red Met Office weather warnings for strong winds in place in Scotland.
Some key contacts and guidance:
• Keep up-to-date with the weather at: www.metoffice.gov.uk/
• Electricity North West can be contacted on 105 for power cuts. For more information, please visit www.enwl.co.uk.
• For water supply issues contact United Utilities on 0345 672 3723
• Problems with the roads in Cumberland can be reported to Cumberland Council via the council's website www.cumberland.gov.uk or, in an emergency, on the Highway's Hotline on 0300 373 3736.
• For Westmorland and Furness, report highways emergencies that require immediate attention such as a fallen tree or flooding to the authority’s Highways Hotline on 0300 373 3306. For less serious issues, complete the highways online reporting form found at westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk.
• For traffic information and latest on the roads, please visit: www.news.cumbria.police.uk/traffic.
• Contact www.cumbria.police.uk/report-it or call 101 if you have concerns about your own safety and well-being, or the safety and well-being of someone you know. If there is an immediate risk to life call 999.
For the latest information and updates please follow:
• Cumbria police on twitter/X at https://x.com/Cumbriapolice or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cumbriapolice/
• Cumberland Council Twitter/x at @CumberlandCoun and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CumberlandCouncil1
• Westmorland and Furness Highways Twitter/X at:https://twitter.com/WandFHighways and Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/WestmorlandFurnessCouncil/