London’s royal parks closed due to strong winds; Scotland hit by power cuts and travel disruption – Storm Amy as it happened

All of London’s royal parks closed because of strong winds

All eight of London’s royal parks, including Hyde Park and Richmond Park, will be closed on Saturday because of strong winds during Storm Amy.

In a statement on its website, the Royal Parks said:

Due to severe wind gusts caused by Storm Amy, all of the royal parks, plus Brompton Cemetery and Victoria Tower Gardens will be closed on Saturday October 4.

This closure includes all park roads and cycleways, cafes and kiosks, parks sports venues, the Serpentine lido and boating lake, and the royal parks shop.

It said opening times on Sunday will be delayed because of safety inspections.

The Royal Parks added:

The safety of visitors and staff is our top priority. We’re sorry for any inconvenience that these closures may cause.

Updated at 13.21 CEST

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Closing summary

We are now closing the live blog. Here is a recap of events. Keep safe.

An amber weather warning, highlighting a danger to life, is in place in the north of Scotland until 9pm on Saturday for Grampian, Highlands & Eilean Siar and Orkney & Shetland.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for wind covering the whole of the UK. A yellow rain warning is in place until midnight tonight for the Highlands & Eilean Siar.

Scotland is facing continued power outages, mainly in the Highlands which have been worst affected by weather. This morning Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks said they were working to restore power to 62,000 people.

ScotRail said around 80 trees had been brought down on lines and engineers were checking routes before resuming services.

Rail and ferry services have been disrupted with travel operators advising people to check with their operators for cancellations or delays.

The environment agency has issued 6 flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, and 24 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible.

Major parks have been closed, including all eight of London’s royal parks.

Tens of thousands of properties are without power across the island of Ireland as a clean-up gets under way. By midday on Saturday, 49,000 properties were without power in the Republic of Ireland and 22,000 in Northern Ireland.

Some sporting fixtures in the UK were cancelled due to the weather.

A man in his 40s was killed in Letterkenny Co Donegal, on Friday afternoon in a weather-related incident. The incident happened at about 4.15pm.

A yellow wind warning is in place until midnight tonight for Central, Tayside & Fife, East Midlands, Grampian, Highlands & Eilean Siar, North East England, North West England, Orkney & Shetland, SW Scotland, Lothian Borders; Strathclyde, Wales and Yorkshire & Humber.

A yellow wind warning is in place until 7pm today for East Midlands, East of England, London & South East England, North West England, South West England, Wales, West Midlands and Yorkshire & Humber.

A yellow wind warning is in place from midnight until midday tomorrow (Sunday) for Central, Tayside & Fife, Grampian, Highlands & Eilean Siar, Orkney & Shetland, SW Scotland, Lothian Borders.

A yellow wind warning is in place until midnight Saturday for Northern Ireland.

Storm Amy also wreaked havoc on Sweden, Denmark and Norway from late Friday into Saturday. Tens of thousands of homes lost power as strong gusts brought down trees and power lines throughout Scandinavia, the Associated Press reports. Heavy rainfall and high tides battered coastal areas.

The high winds also saw golf at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland suspended.

Tournament organisers announced that no further play would be possible on Saturday, with the third round now set to start on Sunday morning, PA Media reports.

Here are some images coming to us via the wires.

Debris from a collapsed building is seen on a car on the Broomielaw in Glasgow, Scotland. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty ImagesVehicles drive through flood water on the A760 on in Lochwinnoch, Scotland. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty ImagesA lorry driver is seen on his phone as his truck remains stuck after being hit by a falling tree due to high winds caused by Storm Amy in Antrim, Northern Ireland. Photograph: Charles McQuillan/Getty ImagesA tree, blown over in the high winds, damages a fence on Romilly Road in Cardiff, Wales. Photograph: Matthew Horwood/Getty ImagesThe Queen Elizabeth Gates to Hyde Park remain locked with a sign stating that the park is closed due to stormy conditions. Photograph: Martin Pope/Getty ImagesShare

We have an update from the environment agency, who say the number of flood alerts has now been reduced to four.

The flood alerts, which mean flooding is expected, are in place for:

There are currently 21 flood warnings in place, meaning flooding is possible, for locations including the Hunstanton coast in Norfolk, the coast from Ramsgate to Kingsdown and the Somerset coast at Porlock Weir.

The full list is here.

Network Rail has said its teams are “working around the clock” to repair extensive damage caused by Storm Amy.

It said more than 170 separate incidents have been reported so far. Ross Moran, route director at Network Rail Scotland, said:

Our teams are working tirelessly to assess the damage, inspect the railway, and carry out essential repairs. They’re often out in extremely challenging conditions, especially with Storm Amy still affecting parts of northern Scotland.

Safety remains our top priority. We must ensure our teams can work safely on the ground and confirm that lines are secure before passenger services can run.

We understand how disruptive this is for passengers and we’re sorry for the inconvenience. Severe weather events like Storm Amy pose a significant challenge for the railway, but we’re doing everything we can to restore services as quickly and safely as possible.

Updated at 14.47 CEST

The Met Office has provided this forecast for the next few hours across the UK and Ireland:

A widely windy afternoon with #StormAmy bringing damaging gusts of wind in places, especially across northern Scotland ⚠️

Showers or longer spells of rain for some, with thunderstorms and hail possible in a few areas 🌦️

Sunny spells for many too and feeling much cooler 📉 pic.twitter.com/O6uv3MBpjq

— Met Office (@metoffice) October 4, 2025

Homes in Ireland could be without power into next week

Tens of thousands of properties are without power as a clean-up gets under way across the island of Ireland.

Irish police reported that a man died during the storm which also brought localised flooding, fallen trees, transport disruption and school closures.

The Electricity Supply Board (ESB) and NIE Networks said that there were hundreds of thousands without power across the island at the height of the storm’s impact.

That number had fallen significantly by midday on Saturday, with 49,000 without power in the Republic of Ireland. NIE Networks said 22,000 were without power at 8am.

Crews for both organisations warned it could take days before power is restored to every customer.

An ESB spokesman said the worst affected areas were in counties Donegal, Leitrim, Roscommon, Galway and Mayo.

We expect to continue to make significant progress and believe that the majority of customers who do not have their supply restored today will have power restored by tomorrow night.

However, some customers in the worst affected areas may be without power into the early part of next week.

This is likely to include some customers in Donegal, which saw the highest wind speeds recorded during Storm Amy, and in areas across the north-west.

Updated at 14.22 CEST

Here is the latest update from the Irish Meteorological Service:

Yellow Wind Warning for Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Derry. Storm Amy may lead to disruption, in place until 23.59 on Saturday.

Status Yellow – Gale warning for all coasts of Ireland and on the Irish Sea. West to northwest winds will reach gale force 8 or higher and is valid until 4pm on Saturday.

There is a small craft warning for all coasts of Ireland. Westerly winds will reach force 6 or higher, valid from 4pm to midday on Sunday 5 October.

Status Yellow – Gale warning from Slyne Head to Malin Head to Howth Head and on the Irish Sea North of Anglesey. West to northwest winds will reach gale force 8 on Irish coastal waters from Slyne Head to Malin Head to Howth Head and on the Irish Sea North of Anglesey. Valid from 4pm on Saturday to 6am on Sunday 5 October.

The Met Office has updated its yellow weather warning for northern and eastern Scotland with strong winds forecast on Sunday from midnight to midday.

Storm Amy has also been disrupting sporting fixtures, with Connacht’s rugby game against the Scarlets on Saturday postponed, PA Media reports.

A statement on the United Rugby Championship (URC) website read: “Due to major travel disruptions and flight cancellations for the Scarlets caused by Storm Amy, the fixture which was due to take place Saturday October 4 in Galway will now be postponed to a later date.”

The Scottish environment protection agency (Sepa) has issued 17 flood alerts for areas including Caithness and Sutherland, Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen City, West Central Scotland and Orkney, where flooding is expected. You can see the full list here.

There are also 20 flood alerts for locations including Aberfoyle and the Upper Tay, where flooding is possible.

Network Rail Scotland says more than 170 separate incidents have been reported so far, PA Media reports.

Ross Moran, route director at Network Rail Scotland, said: “Our teams are working tirelessly to assess the damage, inspect the railway, and carry out essential repairs. They’re often out in extremely challenging conditions, especially with Storm Amy still affecting parts of northern Scotland.

“Safety remains our top priority. We must ensure our teams can work safely on the ground and confirm that lines are secure before passenger services can run.

“We understand how disruptive this is for passengers and we’re sorry for the inconvenience. Severe weather events like Storm Amy pose a significant challenge for the railway, but we’re doing everything we can to restore services as quickly and safely as possible.”

Storm Amy also wreaked havoc on Sweden, Denmark and Norway from late Friday into Saturday.

Tens of thousands of homes lost power as strong gusts brought down trees and power lines throughout Scandinavia, the Associated Press reports.

Heavy rainfall and high tides battered coastal areas.

People struggle against the wind and rain in Malmo, Sweden. Photograph: Johan Nilsson/EPAShare

Here are some images coming to us over the wires of the effects of Storm Amy.

A fallen tree at Ravernet near Lisburn, Northern Ireland. Photograph: Jonathan McCambridge/PAPeople struggle against the wind and rain in Malmo, Sweden, after storm Amy brought strong wind gusts. Photograph: Johan Nilsson/EPASeveral cars lie under a fallen tree in a parking lot after storm Amy brought strong wind gusts in Gothenburg, Sweden. Photograph: Björn Larsson Rosvall/EPAShare

ScotRail says tickets dated for travel on Friday 3rd October, can be used today with ticket restrictions lifted or on Sunday 5th October.

It has posted compensation details for delays to journeys, which can be found here.

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