Storm Darragh

Crawford is ready to respond to claims and support affected people and communities in their repair and recovery process. We also have experts available to respond to business interruption claims.

Visit our services page to learn more about the support we can offer. See below for updates on Crawford's response to Storm Darragh.

Updates

Dec 09, 2024

Over the weekend, the widespread impact of Storm Darragh brought yet more high winds, with a peak windspeed of 96 mph felt at Berry Head in North Devon, and rainfall of 20-25 mm (almost 1 in)  across much of the UK. 

While the storm was still approaching over the Atlantic on Friday evening, a rare Met Office red warning – indicating potential risk to life – was issued to around 3 million people. The Environment Agency also put 50 flood warnings in place in England as well as 130 flood alerts. Natural Resources Wales issued nine flood warnings and 20 flood alerts. 

West Wales and the West Country felt the first impact early on Saturday, with gusts of up to 93mph to some parts of the country, causing power cuts, travel disruption and the cancellation of many sporting fixtures. Regrettably, two lives were lost to falling trees. Some 200,000 households in the UK were without power as of 9am on Sunday, according to the Energy Networks Association. Around 66,000 homes were still without power as at 8am on Monday morning, as were a further 1500 homes in Norther Ireland. 

Rail services remain disrupted, with several lines closed due to fallen trees and debris, while a clean-up operation is launched.

The Met Office advises that conditions will remain quite blustery, especially for south and south east of England, but will gradually ease by midweek, with noticeably less rainfall. Temperatures, while low, will at least be in single figures. 

Darragh is the fourth named storm of the season so far and, coming so soon after late November’s Storm Bert, will provide a challenge to properly assess what needs to be done to help those facing the prospect of repairs or a lengthy drying-out process in the run-up to Christmas.

You can be sure that Crawford will be there with the right team, the right technology, and the right processes to help restore lives, businesses and communities.

We will provide more updates as they become available.