Storm Amy continues to batter Merseyside with a fallen trees causing chaos and debris falling from buildings
Storm Amy as rain and winds hit Liverpool city centre(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
Storm Amy has caused havoc in Merseyside today as high winds and rain ripped through the region. Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for wind in place from 3pm on Friday, October 3, through to 11.59pm this evening, Saturday, October 4.
The Met Office warned people to stay away from coastal areas, with injuries and danger to life possible from large waves and beach material being thrown onto sea fronts, coastal roads and properties. A warning about driving conditions was also shared, urging people to be more cautious in the windy, wet weather.
Liverpool woke up this morning to some light rain and gusts of wind hitting almost 50mph, causing “major disruption” on Merseyrail services after a tree had fallen on the Southport line. It blocked the tracks between Formby and Freshfield.
As the morning went on more train services were affected after strong winds caused damage to overhead lines bringing rail services to a standstill. Mersey Ferries also stopped all services due to “adverse” weather conditions.
Everton then closed part of its Hill Dickinson Stadium due to Storm Amy. However, the club told Everton correspondent Joe Thomas that the weather would not impact preparations ahead of tomorrow’s game v Crystal Palace. Read more about this here.
Liverpool also travelled down to west London to face Chelsea in this evening’s 5.30pm kickoff. However, Avanti West Coast confirmed a number of services down to London Euston will be starting from Crewe and not calling at Lime Street or Runcorn. Avanti said “this is due to damage to the overhead electric wires”.
Storm Amy with trees down at Freshfield/Formby cancelling the trains(Image: Colin Lane)
More trees fell on lines as the day went on bringing many train services in and around Liverpool to a halt.
The strong winds then caused significant damage to a Discount Booze store this afternoon. The front of a Discount Booze store collapsed and debris fell from an unstable building into the road.
Emergency services cordoned off part of Blessington Road and the pavement at the junction of Walton Breck Road and Sleepers Hill in Anfield after part of the building collapsed.
Pictures taken by the ECHO at the scene confirm the building in question is the Discount Booze off-licence. The fire service has confirmed there are no reports of any casualties at this time. A Liverpool City Council structural engineer is also in attendance to assist with the building’s assessment.
Storm Amy damage after part of the roof fell on Walton Breck Road junction with Blessington Road in Anfield(Image: Colin Lane)
Residents on Walton Breck Road then told the ECHO a second property – an “unsafe” house which caused part of the street to be evacuated in August – has also been further damaged in the storm.
The terraced house was found to be structurally unsound with a large crack causing the windows and bay to sag when engineers and emergency services attended on August 4. Two people were living in the property when it was evacuated.
A cordon was put in place and people were asked to evacuate their homes. A large number of people were in the area at the time ahead of Liverpool FC’s pre-season fixtures v Athletic Bilbao. The ECHO previously reported that residents had told the council about the property in July. Following August’s incident, hoardings were put in place around the house.
But residents told the ECHO today the hoardings had blown off the building causing wood and brick to fall again into the road. One resident alleged debris had fallen onto their neighbour’s car.
Merseyrail issued an update at around 4pm confirming services have began to return to normal, however there will still be some delays and cancellations this evening due to the weather.
Boards have ripped away from an “unsafe house” on Walton Breck Road in Anfield amid Storm Amy(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
The weather conditions are forecast to remain wet into Saturday night, looking to be much dryer into Sunday. The weather warning will remain in place until 11.59pm this evening.
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