Man killed by tree falling on caravan as weather warnings remain after Storm Goretti

A man has been killed by a tree falling onto a caravan after Storm Goretti - as weather warnings for snow, ice, wind and remain remain in force for Sunday.

The man aged in his 50s was found dead in the Mawgan area of Helston on Thursday evening, when a rare red weather alert for “dangerous, stormy” gusts was in force across Cornwall.

Devon and Cornwall Police said emergency services were called at around 7.35pm on Thursday, and work took place on Friday to remove the tree. The man’s death is not being treated as suspicious, and his next of kin have been informed.

Yellow warnings for wind, rain, snow and ice remain in force across the rest of the weekend as National Rail warned disruption to train travel is possible until Monday.

A new amber alert for snow has been issued by the Met Office for Aberdeenshire, Moray, Central Tayside and Fife and Highland in Scotland and is in place from 3am until 2pm on Sunday.

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The forecaster warned that between 2cm and 5cm of snowfall is likely at low levels with up to 30cm above 300m elevation in the warning area and that blizzard conditions and deep drifts are possible.

A yellow warning for snow and ice will be in force for much of Scotland, the East and West Midlands, north-east and north-west England and Yorkshire from 2am until 3pm on Sunday.

Between 2cm and 5cm of snow is likely in the warning area, with 10-20cm possible above 200 metres.

In south-west Scotland, Lothian Border and Strathclyde, a yellow warning for rain is in place from 2am on Sunday until the end of the day as the Met Office warned up to 90mm of rain could fall in the area.

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Another alert for rain covers north eastern areas of Scotland between 2am on Sunday until 10am on Monday, where up to 110mm of rain could be possible over parts of Skye, Lochaber, Argyll and the Trossachs, the forecaster said.

In Northern Ireland, a yellow alert for rain runs from 9pm on Saturday until 9pm on Sunday, with forecasters warning up to 60mm of rainfall is possible on higher ground.

Yellow alerts for wind are also in place for much of Scotland for most of Sunday which could see gusts of up to 70mph.

The Met Office has advised those within the regions covered by alerts to prepare for delays to journeys which could involve dangerous driving conditions and to take extra time when travelling to help avoid slips and falls on the ice.

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A Government minister said it is “entirely unacceptable” that people in several areas in the south east and south west are experiencing water supply issues following cold weather and the storm.

In a statement on Saturday evening, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs minister Mary Creagh said the meeting had comprised of water companies and “local resilience forums” with the aim of restoring supplies as soon as possible while “prioritising vulnerable customers and essential public services”.

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She added: “Action by this Government means compensation rates have increased for customers and businesses affected by disruption.

“It underlines why this Government is prioritising investment in infrastructure to improve the resilience of our water system.”

South East Water said on its website that customers in East Grinstead, West Sussex, and the surrounding areas have had “no water, intermittent supply or low pressure” from Saturday morning and despite work to resolve this, the company “do not expect this situation to improve until the end of the weekend.”

In Cornwall, South West Water said some customers had experienced “severe disruption” caused by the storm, widespread power outages and an unrepairable fault at Wendron water treatment works, but it had restored supplies to more than half of those affected.

Both companies listed bottled water stations that are open in impacted areas on their websites.