Destruction and devastation: Storm Eunice causes widespread damage across the region

A tree crashes into a house in Kent

Storm Eunice has wreaked havoc across the Meridian region today (Friday 18 February), bringing gusts of more than 120mph to exposed areas.

No matter where you were, whether it was on the coast or inland, the storm made an impact.

Fallen trees brought rail networks to a standstill, with GWR, SWR, Chiltern and Southeastern all forced to suspend services to ensure the safety of staff and passengers.

At one point, the winds were so strong, a roof was blown onto the railway tracks at Banbury.

Dozens of roads were blocked or closed due to the high wind speeds.

Hayling Island was cut off from the rest of Hampshire for several hours when its only bridge, Langstone Bridge had to be closed.

People living on the Isle of Wight were in a similar situation, with all ferries to and from the island suspended, and thousands of homes left with no power, as the storm took hold.

International travel was affected too. Dozens of flights have been cancelled at Heathrow, Gatwick and Southampton Airports.

An easyJet flight was forced to return to France.

A British Airways flight was slightly braver at Heathrow, making a landing in winds upwards of 50mph.


Credit: Big Jet TV


The de Havilland Venom aircraft on a pylon, situated at the entrance of Grove Business Park, Wantage, got caught up in the wind.

It was ripped from its pylon, ending up partially destroyed on the ground outside the business park.

The sculpture crash landed amidst the storm. Credit: ITV Meridian

The aircraft wasn't the only casualty, with nearby RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire heavily damaged when the winds ripped off large chunks of roof from a £70 million hangar.

It is not yet know how severe the damage to the hangar is, or if anything inside was damaged at the time.


Credit: George Allison


Thousands of homes were left without power across the south east and Thames Valley. With energy networks scrambling to reconnect customers.

More windy weather on Saturday could hamper clear-up efforts in the aftermath of Storm Eunice, the Met Office has said.

While gusts are not forecast to be as strong as Friday's, their timing after what is expected to be a major storm might cause issues, the forecaster warned.

A yellow weather warning for wind has been issued for 6am on Saturday until 6pm, affecting the south coast of England.