Storm Boelo brought strong winds and heavy rain to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands on Sunday, cutting power to tens of thousands of homes and cancelling hundreds of flights.

More than 82 000 properties had no electricity as of 08:00, the Energy Networks Association said. The industry body added that almost 350 000 customers had been reconnected since Storm Austen, Britain’s first named storm of the season, hit southern areas on Friday.

Boelo is the second named storm to hit Britain this season.

Scotland bears the brunt

An amber wind warning was in place in Scotland, where collapsed trees, fallen cables and damaged surfaces prompted road and railway track closures.

Wind gusts peaked at 135 km/h in Argyll and Bute in western Scotland, according to the Met Office weather agency.

Scotland was also under a yellow rain warning, along with northern England, with up to 80 millimetres expected in some areas, bringing a chance of flooding.

Travel chaos across UK and Netherlands

Northern Ireland saw several flights out of Belfast cancelled. The storm also cancelled some ferry services across the Irish Sea between Belfast and northwest England.

In the Netherlands, Schiphol airport in Amsterdam cancelled 90 flights on Sunday. AFP counted the cancelled flights on the airport’s departures page. Most were heading to European cities including Paris, Rome and Dublin. The airport also cancelled or delayed dozens of incoming flights.

“Due to strong winds, fewer flights are expected to take off and land on Sunday, October 25,” the airport said.

The airport did not say exactly how many flights it affected and did not immediately respond to an AFP query. Schiphol is one of Europe’s busiest aviation hubs.

Danger to life warning

The Met Office warned that Boelo brings a danger to life from flying debris and crashing waves and that people should stay indoors as much as possible.