Newcastle school closed due to damage by Storm Babet

A Newcastle school has been forced to close after Storm Babet damaged its building.

Jesmond Park Academy, part of the Gosforth Group, was closed after high winds battered the building's roof.

In a statement the school said: "Jesmond Park Academy is closed today (19 October 2023) due to the high winds causing damage to the roof and making the building unsafe."

Pupils have been told to stay at home and are being taught online.

The academy teaches students from Year 7 to Sixth Form. The school has confirmed that it will remain closed on Friday.

It said: "The health and safety of our students and staff in school is always our primary concern and we never take a decision to close the school lightly.

"However, we have sustained some quite extensive damage to a section of the roof on the building which has resulted in us taking the decision to close the school today."

The school added it was liaising with Newcastle City Council, Equans (the school's facilities contractor) and Albany (which owns the school building) about how to proceed.

The Met Office has issued an amber weather warning for the North of England, the Midlands, Wales and Scotland due to Storm Babet. A yellow warning has been issued for Northern Ireland.

Ferry services in the North East have also been affected by the storm.

The Shields ferry has been cancelled due to poor weather. Services were initially suspended on Thursday morning but Tyne and Wear Metro has since confirmed cancellations for the rest of the day.

The transport operator said: "The Shields ferry will remain out of service for the rest of today.

"A bus replacement service is operating via the Tyne tunnel and ferry tickets and passes can be used on Metro services between North and South Shields."

A ferry operator, DFDS, has also cancelled its service to Amsterdam on Friday. It confirmed the cancellation of the Princess & King Seaways Sailings crossing on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The company said: "We regret to inform you that the scheduled sailing of Princess & King Seaways on 20 October has been cancelled due to extreme weather conditions.

"We apologise for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your understanding in this matter. Rest assured that the safety of our passengers remains our utmost priority."

Passengers have been told to contact DFDS to arrange a rebooking.

Sunderland City Council has cancelled its Festival of Light events this evening due to Storm Babet.

The festival began on October 12 and is due to end on November 11, with a series of events across the city. Tonight's events were set to include a silent disco and a street-theatre show involving a five-metre-high illuminated crustacean called Lobster à la Carte.

Councillor John Price said: "We want visitors to the Festival of Light to have a wonderful time and come away with happy memories.

"The safety and enjoyment of all those coming along to the event has to be our prime focus so, given the weather forecast, we have reluctantly taken the decision to cancel tomorrow night's event. I know it's disappointing but I hope everyone will understand why we have had to take this decision, given the poor weather conditions."

The public is being urged to avoid areas that are likely to flood due to heavy rainfall.

There is likely to be "significant inland flooding" across the North East from Thursday through to Saturday, according to the Environment Agency.

Ben Lukey, flood duty manager at the Environment Agency, said: "We advise people to stay away from swollen rivers and urge people not to drive through flood water as just 30cm of flowing water is enough to move your car. 

"People should check their flood risk, sign up for free flood warnings and keep up to date with the latest situation at https://www.gov.uk/check-if-youre-at-risk-of-flooding and follow @EnvAgency on X, formerly known as Twitter, for the latest flood updates."

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