Stormy Weather Causes Damage Across The UK

Stormy weather causes damage across the UK

The poor weather the UK has recently seen is nothing unusual for the country, but the floods, strong winds and low temperatures have still taken their toll on the nation, and will continue to do so until the summer hits.

This poor weather brings health and safety risks with it and will lead to a number of damages claims and personal injury compensation claims. According to the AA, the strong winds over the Christmas period alone saw the organization receive a total of 130 car insurance claims and approximately 1,000 home flood and storm claims.

Furthermore, the AA’s Special Operations workers, who are equipped with Land Rovers specially designed for flood waters and who are qualified in rescuing people and property from floods, rescued over 1,100 vehicles from flood water between December 23rd and 31st 2013. A disproportionate number of these rescued vehicles were 4x4s and SUVs, and many contained drivers that had ignored road signs such as ‘road ahead closed’. It is doubtful whether these drivers would be eligible to claim personal injury compensation should they be injured after recklessly driving through a flood.

Cars cannot travel safely through flood water, and drivers that continue to do so are putting their own health and safety, the wellbeing of passengers and the safety of the public at risk. Off-road cars cannot cope with flood water and can be easily swept away or pushed over in water with currents.

Some of the home claims the AA received show the storm created health and safety risks and could have potentially led to personal injury claims in the future. These included branches or trees that had been blown down in the bad weather, aerials that had become dislodged, windows that had broken, flooding, and dislodged slates or roof tiles.

Met Office warnings and health and safety risks

The Met Office is predicting strong winds and stormy weather to continue in the near future, and employers and the general public should take the health and safety implications of this seriously. People should only drive in poor weather if they absolutely have to, and cyclists and motorcyclists should take additional precautions if they have to travel.

All road users should take an emergency kit around with them to help them should they break down or become stranded, and should ensure the vehicle they use is as roadworthy as possible before they set off. It is also a good idea to carry a fully-charged mobile phone around, as this can be used to contact people in an emergency.

Personal injury solicitors can help people who have been injured in accidents they were not to blame for, or were only partially to blame for. For claims to be successful, a party must have acted in a negligent manner, and this negligence must have directly caused the claimant’s injury. Anyone who is uncertain should speak with no win no fee solicitors for no-obligation advice.