Storm Babet: Live updates as South Shields Metro suspensions hit and lighthouse damaged

Our weekend reporter is happy to see skies are clearing after two days of dark conditions and wet weather!

There is still service disruption across the Metro system today. Trains are not running between St Peters and South Hylton or South Gosforth and Shiremoor in both directions. The Shields Ferry also remains out of operation.

One football match in the region is still on today - South Shields have been able to drain their pitch ahead of a 3pm kick off.

We have another incredible video here from Lee Axon (Instagram - @digifinsocial) of waves crashing against the pier at Roker in Sunderland. Similar scenes were captured across the North East yesterday afternoon.

Nexus are telling Newcastle United fans heading to St James Park this afternoon to check their journeys before travelling and allow plenty of time to travel.

The Shields Ferry remains out of action today while the Metro remains closed between St Peters and South Hylton.

This footage from our reporter Hayley Lovely shows waves caused by the storm hitting South Shields yesterday.

Football clubs are starting to feel the impact of the last 24 hours with Hebburn Town’s fixture this afternoon postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. South Shields FC’s fixture is still going ahead at the moment.

The Met Office has also updated its weather warnings across the UK, cancelling all warnings in the North East. The weather service is still predicting further showers throughout Saturday. Wind speeds are expected to peak at 12 miles per hour.

Good morning from the Shields Gazette! The Tyne and Wear Metro has confirmed the system is now open across South Tyneside with trains now running through Boldon. Services remain suspended between St Peters and South Hylton in Sunderland, however. Service has also resumed between St James and Monkseaton.

South Shields Football Club remain positive tomorrow’s match with King’s Lynn Town will go ahead.

The 1st Cloud Arena was subject to an inspection on Friday and was the pitch was deemed playable.

Another inspection will take place tomorrow, with a late call made. However, hopes are high the National League North fixture will not fall foul of Storm Babet.

The Shields Ferry is to remain suspended until Sunday, 22 October, due to Storm Babet.

Nexus, the public body which owns and operates the cross Tyne service, said the storm was creating a significant tidal swell which is forecast to last all of Saturday.

The service suspension is a safety precaution, Nexus said.

A replacement bus is running today, and will continue on Saturday via Tyne Tunnel, 7am until 11pm.

Shields Ferry tickets are being accepted on Metro, and customers can also travel between North Shields and South Shields on Stagecoach services 10 and 11.

Flood alerts and warnings have been issued across the North East as Storm Babet brings continued heavy rain.

Persistent and heavy rainfall from Storm Babet means that river flooding impacts are possible in the North East on Friday and Saturday.

More flood warnings are expected to be issued across the region in the next 24 hours. People are being urged to prepare for the risk of significant flooding for the rest of this week. The public should sign up to flood warnings and check the latest safety advice as heavy downpours are likely to fall on saturated ground.

The Environment Agency teams in the North East are working round the clock with partners to help reduce the risk, this includes closing flood gates where necessary. Flood gates at Yarm, Morpeth and Rothbury have already been closed.

There are currently no severe flood warnings, which indicate that flooding poses a significant risk to life or significant disruption to communities.

Storm Babet has hit the Yorkshire and North East regions, bringing heavy rain and wind since early yesterday evening.

We are experiencing some disruption to power supply with just over 40,000 customers having been affected by a power cut so far.

We know how difficult it can be for our customers during a power cut and we will continue to work throughout the storm to get the power back on as quickly as possible.

Our teams responded quickly and have already managed to get approximately 75% of affected customers’ power back on. We will keep customers updated regularly via text message, on our website and on our social media channels.

The situation is fast-moving, and we will keep monitoring our progress to give affected customers the best estimate of when power is likely to be back on. This may change as the impact of the storm on the network becomes clear, and we need to ensure it is safe for our engineers to be working, but we will keep customers informed as soon as we know more.

Customer support vehicles have been deployed to some of the most affected areas and welfare support arrangements being coordinated to support customers. Keep an eye on our social media channels for updates.

For customers who are part of our Priority Services Membership, we will make sure you receive extra help and peace of mind if there is a power cut and we’ll contact you to let you know the time your power is likely to be back on, and of any additional help we may be able to provide. We can contact you regardless of the time of day, or night, by text message if we have a mobile phone number for you, or by calling you if we only have a landline number for you.

If you have been impacted by a power cut, please call 105 or report online: www.northernpowergrid.com/power-cuts.

This image from Vicki Sinclair shows South Shields lighthouse before the storm damage early this morning.

Additional falling trees have seen the Tyne and Wear Metro forced to close another stretch of line on the system. Trains are no longer running between St James and Shiremoor due to a tree falling around Byker in addition to storm damage and an obstruction on the overhead line.

Tomorrow’s South Tyneside Market has been cancelled.

Organisers are saying this is “to ensure the safety of market traders and the public.”

The RNLI have issued a four step guide to keeping safe as Storm Babet continues to blast the North East.

The charity’s advice is:

Nick Ayers, RNLI Regional Water Safety Lead North and East, said: ‘The forecasted strong winds along with heavy rain are likely to cause very dangerous conditions on our coastlines in the North East.

“Large seas and storm surges are predicted to hit our coastline later today and in to tomorrow (Saturday).”

This image, sent to us by Paul Young, shows the damage to South Shields’ lighthouse. Image credit: Paul Young – Ontrackimages.