Sussex: Storm Ciarán brings power cuts and travel chaos

Storm Ciarán has been sweeping across Sussex, bringing down trees, closing schools and causing travel disruption.

Amber and yellow weather warnings have been in place across Sussex, with gusts of 63mph reported in Shoreham-by-Sea.

More than 1,600 properties lost power across East and West Sussex, but many have had supplies restored.

The county was also hit by flooding, with warnings of train delays and cancellations as lines were checked for debris.

UK Power Networks said power supplies across the South East had been affected by strong winds and heavy rain.

"We're sorry to all customers impacted. We understand how difficult is to be without power," a spokesperson said.

By Thursday afternoon, 479 properties in East Sussex and 336 properties in West Sussex were still without a power supply.

Properties in Alfriston, Jevington, Polegate and Whitehawk were affected by power outages.

Meanwhile, residents in London Road, Bognor Regis, waded through a flooded street, trying to find drains to ease the water build-up.

Colin Tourle, who lives in Hellingly, East Sussex, had his garden flooded and said the road outside was impassable.

"The water comes up more quickly and it's definitely got worse over the last 30 years," he said.

Gordon Taylor, also from Hellingly, said while his property had not been affected, he was worried about raw sewage.

"You can smell it as you're walking down the cuckoo walk, and I'm worried it'll get worse with the rain we're getting."

Bexhill resident Nicola Pharoah said Storm Ciarán had created the "strongest wind we have ever had" in the East Sussex town.

"There is a permanent dull hum in the background from the sea that's at the bottom of our road, and the garden just looks wild," she said.

She said Bexhill Sixth Form College, where her children study, had been closed with all lessons moving online.

Govia Thameslink Railway, which includes Southern Railway, said Brighton to Southampton services were expected to be significantly delayed, with fewer London trains from Brighton, while Gatwick Express services were not continuing south of Gatwick to Brighton.

Bus replacement services will not be provided.

Network Rail also had to remove a trampoline from the track at Hastings and has warned people to tie down trampolines in their gardens.

Bus company Stagecoach said all services operated by its Eastbourne depot have been suspended.

"Safety is our top priority and this decision has been taken to keep both yourselves and our staff safe," a spokesperson said.

East Sussex Fire and Rescue said it dealt with seven storm-related incidents on Wednesday night into Thursday morning.

Three calls about fallen trees were passed onto the local highways team.

Fallen trees caused road closures in East Sussex, including the A28 in both directions between Stubb Lane in Bred and Mill Lane in Westfield.

There were also reports of closures on Darley Road in Eastbourne and St Helen's Road in Hastings.

West Sussex County Council said the A29 in Pulborough, Bognor Regis and Shripney would be closed.

Ferries between Newhaven and Dieppe were cancelled.

Many schools across East and West Sussex were closed, including ARK Blacklands Primary Academy in Hastings, Robertsbridge Community College and Ormiston Six Villages Academy, near Chichester.

Albourne School in Hassocks closed after it was struck by lightning, lost power and was flooded.

Many other schools and colleges opened later in the morning to avoid the worst of the storm.

Meanwhile, bin collections were cancelled in Brighton and Eastbourne.

In Hastings, which was hit by flooding last week, the Salvation Army extended its support, with the organisation's citadel in the town already being used to hand out food and drink to residents and emergency workers.

The borough council, working with the Seaview Project, opened a shelter for rough sleepers to escape the storm on Wednesday and Thursday nights.

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