Lingering Effects of Storm Darragh in South East England

The repercussions of Storm Darragh are still being experienced across the south east of England, including an earlier closure of a train line due to a tree obstructing the tracks. The storm, which swept across a significant portion of the UK on Saturday and Sunday, brought strong winds and rain to Kent, Sussex, and Surrey. On Monday, flood alerts were issued for the Western Rother, River Adur, Cuckmere River, Combe Haven, River Rother, River Beult, and the upper River Stour. Electricity has been reconnected to hundreds of homes around Arundel that suffered an outage on Saturday. Alec Perring, an Arundel resident, informed BBC Radio Sussex that his power went off around 17:00 GMT on Saturday. Power has since been restored to residences in the town’s vicinity, and Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks stated that additional workers were deployed to rectify faults and remove fallen trees. A spokesperson indicated that the company had restored supplies to approximately 77,000 customers since Storm Darragh. Mr. Perring recounted having to sit in the dark “with no entertainment” but was fortunate to have a gas hob, allowing him to prepare hot drinks. Meanwhile, a train line near Oxted in Surrey, which had been closed because of a tree blocking the line, reopened at about 11:00. No trains had been able to operate between East Grinstead and Uckfield. Southern announced it had arranged replacement bus services and for tickets to be accepted by other rail operators. In Selsey, West Sussex, on Saturday, a large cedar tree was brought down outside St Peter’s Church. West Sussex Highways reported attending more than 120 emergencies over the weekend. The church warden told BBC Radio Sussex that the tree was over 100 years old, and everyone in the village was sad to see it go. She also mentioned a small amount of damage to a wall surrounding the church, but no one was injured. “Sunday proceedings still went ahead,” she added.