Storm Austen
Named by Met Office on 20 October 2026.
Storm Austen has moved through. The sections below cover power that's still off, and what you may be owed.
Storm Austen by the numbers
From our own readings, 22 Oct 2026, 18:00 to 24 Oct 2026, 02:05.
Warnings covered: South West England; London & South East England; Wales; West Midlands; Dumfries, Galloway, Lothian & Borders; Grampian; Central, Tayside & Fife; Strathclyde; East of England; East Midlands; North West England; Highlands & Eilean Siar; North East England; Orkney & Shetland; Yorkshire & Humber; Northern Ireland.
Council areas hit hardest by power cuts
- Cornwall28,807 homes · 40 cuts
- Somerset18,327 homes · 45 cuts
- Tonbridge and Malling9,823 homes · 6 cuts
- Sevenoaks8,963 homes · 10 cuts
- Tunbridge Wells8,816 homes · 11 cuts
A cut that reached several councils counts in each.
If your power was off a long time, you may be owed money. Under Ofgem's rules, storm compensation starts after 24 hours without power in a Category 1 storm, or 48 hours in a Category 2 one, at £90 and then £45 for each further 6 hours, paid by the network operator. Work out what you're owed →
The Household Strain Index peaked at 61 on 23 October 2026.
Not every cut here is the storm's: on a calm day, 4 of these networks log a median of 232 new unplanned cuts between them (our outage ledger, 29 September 2026 to 17 October 2026).
Our readings are taken twice a day from Britain's electricity networks that publish live data (6 of 6 at the peak reading), so cuts that start and end between readings are missed, and "still off 24 hours on" counts cuts we saw unrestored at a reading at least 24 hours after they began. Flood and rain figures cover England only.
Follow PreparedBritain on Facebook. We post updates on Storm Austen as warnings and power cuts change.
Follow on FacebookWeather warnings now
Every Met Office warning in force as of 7 Nov 2026, 16:23, whatever the cause. The Met Office's own map shows exactly where each applies.
- yellowYellow warning of fog affecting South West England
- yellowYellow warning of fog affecting East Midlands
- yellowYellow warning of fog affecting London & South East England
- yellowYellow warning of fog affecting West Midlands
Regions with warnings: South West England; East Midlands; London & South East England; West Midlands.
Power cuts now
45 active cuts and about 921 homes off at our last update, on the 6 of 6 networks that publish live data (National Grid, Northern Powergrid, UK Power Networks, SSEN, SP Energy Networks, Electricity North West). The council areas with the most homes off:
- North Yorkshire364 homes · 2 cuts
- East Riding of Yorkshire321 homes · 1 cut
- North East Lincolnshire86 homes · 1 cut
- Bradford70 homes · 2 cuts
- Kirklees43 homes · 1 cut
- Stoke-on-Trent34 homes · 1 cut
- Hertsmere26 homes · 1 cut
- North Northamptonshire23 homes · 2 cuts
- Westmorland and Furness18 homes · 1 cut
- County Durham16 homes · 1 cut
Check your postcode on the live power cut tracker →
Power off? Call 105 free from any phone in England, Scotland and Wales.
NewWarnings and power cuts for your own postcodeHome Alerts: your postcode's power cuts, warnings and floods, on one screen. Free for your own home. Sign up in a minute.Start free →Flood warnings now
England (Environment Agency): 0 severe flood warnings, 0 flood warnings and 0 flood alerts as of 7 Nov 2026, 16:23.
Before a named storm
- Read the warning for your area, not just the headline: the Met Office says what to expect and when.
- Charge phones and power banks, and find the torch now rather than in the dark.
- Bring in or tie down anything the wind can throw: bins, trampolines, garden furniture.
- If someone at home depends on powered medical equipment, have a plan for a cut and join the Priority Services Register.
- Never use a barbecue, camping stove or generator indoors: carbon monoxide kills. Torches, not candles, if you can.
After the storm
How storms get their names
The UK's storm names come from a three-country partnership: the Met Office, Met Éireann in Ireland and KNMI, the Dutch national weather service, publish one shared list each September — and every name on it was suggested by a member of the public. The season runs from early September to late August, timed to meteorological autumn, when Atlantic storm activity picks up.
A storm is only named when it is expected to cause medium or high impacts in the UK, Ireland or the Netherlands — in practice, when an amber or red warning is on the cards. Wind is the usual trigger, but a storm can also be named for rain where serious flooding is forecast, or for significant snow. That is why plenty of blustery autumn days pass unnamed: a yellow-warning blow does not make the list.
The 2026/27 list
Questions
When was Storm Austen named?
The Met Office named Storm Austen on 20 October 2026.
Is there a power cut near me from Storm Austen?
This page lists the council areas with the most homes off on the networks with live feeds, refreshed every 5 minutes, and our power cut pages cover 99 towns and cities with a postcode check. If your power is off, call 105 free from any phone.
Will I get compensation if the storm cuts my power?
Possibly. In severe weather, network operators must pay compensation once a cut runs past set thresholds, which are longer than for a normal fault. Our power cut compensation calculator works out what you're likely owed from when your power went off and came back.
Sources: Met Office UK Storm Centre and National Severe Weather Warning Service; Environment Agency flood-monitoring API; network operators' live power cut feeds (SSEN data under CC BY 4.0). Independent and not affiliated with the Met Office or HM Government.
