Thousands lose power, trees fall and roads close as Storm Boelo batters York

Storm Boelo brought disruption across York and North Yorkshire as it battered the area with 60mph gusts.

The fallen tree outside Astor Hostels in Holgate Road, York, on Sunday (October 25) <i>(Image: Tony Castle)</i>

(Image: Tony Castle)

Storm Boelo brought disruption across York and North Yorkshire as it swept into the area with 60mph gusts.

Thousands of people across the county were hit by power cuts due to the extreme weather which resulted in a yellow warning for wind being issued until 9pm on Sunday (October 25).

More than 300 homes in the Strensall area, as well as homes in Osbaldwick, Derwenthorpe and Dunnington, were left without power during the storm on Sunday. There were further outages in the Sheriff Hutton area, in the North York Moors and on the North Yorkshire coast.

Northern Powergrid said more than than 93,000 of its customers had been hit by power cuts, and power had been restored to almost 51,000 of them by Sunday afternoon.

Strong winds overnight into Sunday saw a huge tree topple onto four cars and land on the front windows of Astor Hostels in Holgate Road.

There were no injuries after the tree fell on the cars which were parked outside the hostel.

Emergency services close Holgate Road as they remove the fallen tree on Sunday afternoon (October 25) (Image: Newsquest)

Emergency services closed Holgate Road late Sunday morning to remove the tree. The road had reopened by 1.30pm.

Two fire crews used an aerial ladder platform as they worked with tree surgeons to clear the area.

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An Astor Hostels spokesperson said the hostel remained open despite the incident.

They said guests that were in rooms where the tree was resting had been moved.

Tony Castle, of Castle Tree Surgeons, helped remove the fallen tree from Astor Hostels and said it was "absolutely rotten and an accident waiting to happen".

A tree falls onto a car outside Astor Hostels in Holgate Road, York, during Storm Boelo on Sunday (October 25) (Image: Newsquest)

Half of the tree collapsed onto the building and four cars, he said, and the rest of the tree was "getting blown around like a rag doll and far too dangerous to climb and make safe".

He said police helped evacuate nearby properties and close the road while the tree was removed with the help of the fire crews.

A car damaged after the tree fell outside Astor Hostels in Holgate Road, York, on Sunday (October 25) (Image: Tony Castle)

Tony said the tree was made safe after five hours and he estimated the cost of the damage to be "somewhere in the region of £70,000".

"What a day," he added.

Meanwhile, the strong gales saw Clifford’s Tower, Museum Gardens and the Yorkshire Museum all close their doors on Sunday for safety reasons.

Museum Gardens was closed on Sunday (October 25) due to Storm Boelo (Image: Newsquest)

English Heritage, which operates Clifford's Tower, said anyone with prebooked tickets would be automatically refunded, while York Museums Trust, which runs the Yorkshire Museum, said visitors with prebooked tickets would be contacted.

Other attractions to close on Sunday included Castle Howard near Malton, Forbidden Corner in Leyburn, Askham Bryan Wildlife Park and the Lightwater Valley Family Adventure Park in Ripon.

Storm Boelo (pronounced Boo-loh) followed Storm Austen, the first named storm of the season, which brought heavy rainfall resulting in disruption across the country on Friday.

Toppled bins in Lendal during Storm Boelo on Sunday (October 25) (Image: Newsquest)

River levels on the River Ouse in York were rising throughout Sunday after the heavy rainfall and were expected to peak on the Viking Recorder at almost 2.3m – 0.4m above the top of the river’s normal range – at 7am on Monday.

The rainfall resulted in flash flooding in Scarborough on Friday which saw homes and businesses flooded and vehicles stuck in floodwater.

Roads were closed across the seaside town as firefighters responded to more than a dozen flooding incidents on Friday.

Valley Road in Scarborough remained closed on Saturday due to flooding but has since reopened.

Weston Hotel in Esplanade had to close over the weekend after having its basement flooded, resulting in the venue’s boilers failing and electricity cutting out.

“The fire brigade were with us for over eight hours, working incredibly hard to clear the road, our entrance and the basement. We cannot thank them enough for their efforts,” a spokesperson for the hotel said.

They added that the hotel was "absolutely devastated by the damage caused".