North Yorkshire Emergency Response to Storm Arwen Continues

Emergency services and local councils have been working together across North Yorkshire through the night and are continuing their efforts today to keep roads clear and people safe as Storm Arwen continues to affect the county.

Multi-agency teams have been pulling out all the stops to protect residents and to support Northern Powergrid which is working hard to restore power to people’s homes and businesses.

People are also being urged look out for neighbours and friends, particularly elderly residents and those who are vulnerable in the current circumstances, as many thousands of people are still without power today across the Northern region from Northumberland down to Lincolnshire with many areas of North Yorkshire affected.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue has attended and supported the community at around 50 incidents. The majority of these incidents included falling trees, power lines and dangerous structures.

Fire officers were called to Argyle Road in Whitby on Saturday, around 5.30pm, after reports of an unsafe roof support. Advice was given. Three hours later, officers then enabled a female to gain entry to a property on Thorn Tree Avenue in Filey after two children had become locked inside after the wind below a door shut. 

With the Met Office forecasting that high winds are set to continue throughout the day across the region along with cold weather and very low temperatures, people are urged to look out for those in their neighbourhood who may remain without power for a prolonged period.

Although Northern Powergrid is working into the night, people who are still without power could remain without power for the rest of the night.  They are therefore being asked to consider making arrangements with neighbours and friends to move into warm accommodation until power is restored.

The Environment Agency and local councils are also urging people to stay away from coastal areas due to the danger of high winds and waves which continue to affect coastal roads and paths.

People are urged to avoid seafronts and piers and placing themselves in danger in case of overtopping by waves. At least one person has been swept out by the waves and rescued off the North Yorkshire coast today.

Volumes of sea foam whipped up by the storm has led to closure of the carriageway at Sandsend and the Pier Road at Whitby and North Bay Scarborough have been closed.  People attending events on the coast need to remain vigilant.

An number of trees have been brought down along the Yorkshire Coast including on Ryndle Crescent in Scarborough where a tree has fallen on a parked car. On Commercial Street in Scarborough trees are also down on parked cars. The main Bridlington Christmas Tree on Kingsgate has also been toppled.

People are being asked to remain vigilant and only travel if necessary.  North Yorkshire Police are urging people, if they do need to travel to be alert to the conditions, drive accordingly and leave extra time for their journey, checking the weather forecast and flood alerts before setting off so they are prepared for any eventuality.

Inspector Amy Hunter from North Yorkshire Police, added:

“Due to the high level demand in calls for service there may be a delay when calling the police on 101. We ask members of the public not to ring 999 if you can’t get through on 101, please leave the lines free for genuine emergencies.

“Thank you for your patience and understanding while we deal with the effects of the storm, and please stay safe.”

Since the arrival of the strong winds around 3pm yesterday North Yorkshire Highways teams have been working throughout the night and continue today to address issues that arise as a result of falling trees, snow and ice.

In addition to overnight patrols and treatment on main routes  teams had pre-salted Priority 1 routes and have been re-treating those Priority 1 routes where necessary and then moving on to Priority 2 network during the course of the day.

Highways teams along with farmer contractors have been busy opening roads  due to snow and responding to almost two hundred reports of fallen trees.

Over the next 48hours particularly cold temperatures (both air and road surface)  are forecast with high risk of frost and ice, along with some residual snow. Temperatures could be as low as minus 8ºC in parts of the county with some snow showers continuing.

Neil Irving, on behalf of the North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, said:

“County and district councils and emergency services continue to pull out all the stops to keep highways clear and our residents safe and we are calling on all our residents to help us in this endeavour.

“Travel only if you need to and remain vigilant. Above all please look out for neighbours and friends particularly those who are elderly and frail who may be without power for a prolonged period in very cold weather, especially as nightfall approaches. 

“We are calling on friends and neighbours and people without power to consider making arrangements together to move people into warm accommodation until power is restored.”