Gavin Grey: UK and Europe Correspondent on the deadly storm in the UK and a potentially deliberate explosion in the Netherlands

Police in the Netherlands fear an explosion at a block of flats which has left 5 dead and 4 injured in the Hague, may have been started deliberately.

UK authorities urged people to stay at home over the weekend after a vicious stormswept the country.

150 km/h were recorded on Saturday and again early Sunday morning.

UK and Europe Correspondent Gavin Grey joins Early Edition.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Kevin Great from the UK gooborning toy Hi there, Andrew
Hio mat So. Every the week in UK authority said
stay at home. So how because the weather was going
to be so bad? So was it so bad? And
did everyone stay at home?

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Well? I know not everyone did, of course, people can't
cancel the travel plans. Travel was in absolute chaos, as
you can imagine. This was the fourth named storm that
the winter. It has claimed that we know at least
two lives. Some gusts up to almost one hundred miles
an hour, so you're looking at one hundred and fifty
kilometers an hour were recorded on Saturday and then again

(00:33):
early Sunday morning. The deaths were in the northwest of
England in Lancashire, when a tree fell onto a vehicle
and a man in his late forties died. There was
another death in the West Midlands, same thing, a separate incident,
somebody driving and a tree falling on them. The gusts
have slightly died down, but the problem now is this
storm with the strong winds was accompanied by a lot

(00:54):
of rain, and indeed the previous named storm had only
just left the country. The soil is really, really soggy already,
and I'm afraid now there is a big danger of flooding.
There are some fifty four flood warnings for riverside communities
in England alone, and that means that flooding is likely.

(01:14):
And in Wales where I'm talking to you from this morning,
the ground really really wet. There are lots of tree
surgeons out trying to keep the roads open. As I said,
the winds have died down. The big, big risk now
is all the water that is collecting and going down
into the river.

Speaker 1 (01:29):
And indeed there's a change. Really I never used to
remember England flooding and now you do.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
Yeah, yeah, and you know, more development of course, and
more people and therefore a bigger demand on the services
and also fewer places for the water to seek down
into the soil.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
All right, let's go to the Netherlands where there was
an explosion at a block of flats. So tell me
about that story.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yeah, that was in the Hague and at least five
people have died four others have been injured. Now, this
was an explosion of a block of flats. It's a
three story building and it is said that there were
up to twenty people in the flats at the time.
That would mean therefore that eleven or more are missing,

(02:13):
and that's the big concern. There is so much debris
around the place, Andrew that the big crane has been
brought in to try and get lift off these huge blocks.
But there is a big concern this death toll will
increase significantly now at the moment, the authorities are not
saying what they believe to be the cause. However, one
eyewitness describes a car driving off at very high speed

(02:35):
shortly before the explosion. That that is an unconfirmed report.
But yeah, we believe there's to be at least five
flats that have been completely destroyed in this explosion, which
has left a lot of debr for the authorities to
try to get through. But I'm afraid more and more
this is proving and I think not to be a
rescue operation. If there are more bodies under there, this

(02:56):
is proven to be a recovery operation.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
Kevin Grave from the UK.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
I thank you Imagine for more from early edition with
Ryan Bridge. Listen live to news Talks it be from
five am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.