Wind batters region
Feb 23 2008 by Liz Hands, The Journal
GALE force winds battered the North East yesterday and caused havoc across the region.
Gusts reached 60mph as busy motorways ground to a halt, shopping centres were shut and ferry services were left in a state of disarray.
A North Sea ferry broke free from its moorings in high winds on the River Tyne, hitting a disused oil rig.
A trip to the Netherlands had to be cancelled after the King of Scandinavia suffered minor damage in the accident yesterday afternoon.
No one was onboard the vessel, operated by DFDS, when it was blown into the North Producer rig and it was quickly towed back to its berth by tugboats.
A spokeswoman for the Port of Tyne Authority said: “When she broke free she came up against the Northern Producer rig, but caused no damage.
“Tugs were immediately on the scene and pulled her back to berth.”
The ship, which can carry 2,000 people, caused no damage to the rig.
The ferry carries passengers between Newcastle and IJmuiden, near Amsterdam.
John Crummie, UK managing director for DFDS Seaways, said: “Due to exceptionally adverse weather conditions, strong winds enabled the King of Scandinavia to slip its mooring line and berth, causing the vessel to collide with a decommissioned oil rig.
“No passengers were on board at the time and no crew members were injured. The King of Scandinavia has now been safely towed back to a river berth.”
He added that the ferry would not be sailing to IJmuiden as a result of minor damage caused and the return journey this morning has also been cancelled.
Elsewhere, the Retail Park at the MetroCentre was evacuated yesterday morning as the wind threatened to rip the roof off.
More than a dozen shops were closed for the entire day in half-term chaos after the flashing on the roof was torn away by strong gusts of wind.
A spokesperson for the MetroCentre said: “The very strong winds experienced over Thursday have caused damage to the roof of the retail park. As a precautionary measure, especially as the strong winds were persisting, we closed the Retail Park while the damage is gauged.
“The health and safety of our customers is always a top priority.” An assessment of the damage was due to take place this morning.
Meanwhile, sections of the A68 in Northumberland were also closed after two lorries were blown over by high winds. The incidents occurred on Thursday and Friday, resulting in minor injuries, and Northumbria Police closed parts of the southbound carriageway.
Durham Constabulary issued a warning to the drivers of high sided vehicles to avoid the route if possible.
Bad weather coming to an end over weekend
THE MET Office last night predicted that the horrendous weather would subside over the weekend.
Following the chaos that was caused by the 60mph gales yesterday, today is set to be calm and breezy.
Met Office forecaster Jon Millard is predicting a pleasant weekend.
He said: “It’s looking pretty cloudy and you might get some spots of rain, but it should be quite dry.
“It will also be quite mild, with temperatures getting up to 13 or 14 degrees, when they were as low as 11 yesterday.
“But it won’t be as breezy as yesterday, with south westerly winds reaching only 25mph, but at points they might get up to 40.”
And tomorrow is likely to be even clearer, with light winds, but maybe some rain early on. “There might be light rain tomorrow morning, but that will clear up as the day goes on,” he added.
