Storm Atiyah has hit Wales, southwest England and Ireland - sparking flight cancellations and diversions, and causing power outages in several areas.

The first named storm of the season has brought gusts of wind of up to 79mph, which was recorded at 7pm on Sunday in Roche's Point, Co Cork, according to Ireland's meteorological service Met Eireann.

It has also disrupted more than a dozen flights at Cork Airport, which were either cancelled or forced to divert to Dublin or Shannon.

A round trip to Heathrow from Shannon Airport was also cancelled owing to the poor weather.

Storm Atiyah video clip is filmed by the Wolfe Tone Square, Bantry, there is powerful wind force coming from the ocean which is bringing the water onto pavements and road, video was filmed at 17:56 and there was no signs of road flooding.#StormAtiyah @rtenews @rte @irishexaminer pic.twitter.com/nwvqnUW7LZ — Karlis Dzjamko (@KDzjamko14) December 8, 2019

Power cuts have been reported in southern Ireland, parts of Wales and southwest England.


Western Power Distribution later confirmed to Sky News that at least 115 houses were without power. About 5,500 customers were cut off from power over the course of Sunday.

Rail passengers were also warned to expect delays, as National Rail said it had imposed overnight speed restrictions in southwest England and south Wales, and Irish Rail said it had done the same around the Cork region.

The M48 Severn Bridge brought in lane closures on Sunday as a precaution because of the increasing wind speeds.

Strong winds caused by #StormAtiyah may keep you up tonight with gusts in excess of 70 mph likely around exposed parts of the southwest pic.twitter.com/gIAaiweVD5 — Met Office (@metoffice) December 8, 2019

A red wind warning was imposed in Co Kerry for three hours between 4pm and 7pm on Sunday evening, while the rest of Ireland was placed under orange and yellow alerts.

Kerry County Council said on Twitter it had deployed crews to respond to reports of fallen trees, and encouraged "continued vigilance" into the evening.

A yellow weather warning was in place for Wales and the South West of England until 9am on Monday morning - and a separate warning across a stretch of eastern England was in force until 12.30pm.

The Environment Agency issued flood alerts in the South West of England, including one flood warning.

People there wer ebeing warned to be wary of tidal surges and debris being thrown over sea walls during the storm.

A second strong storm is expected to hit the UK on Tuesday.