Update: Storm Eowyn, As Expected Leaves Big Trail Of Destruction In Ireland, Scotland

Fallen trees across railroad tracks in Scotland after 
Storm Eowyn.  Photo helps explains why the Scottish
rail system and to shut down during and after
the storm due to wind damage. 

As expected, Storm Eowyn, as it's known, crashed into Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland Thursday night and Friday, leaving behind a trail of power outages and damage. 

So far, only one death has been reported, which is one glimmer of good news.

At least a million power outages were reported in Ireland and northern Ireland, with 100,000 more across Scotland.  Power could be out for some people for as many as ten days. 

Photos and videos from the area show many roofs and building walls damaged and collapsed from the winds, along with countless trees blown over.  

Winds gusted as high as 114 mph at Mace Head on Ireland's west coast, the highest wind gust on record in Ireland. A storm in 1945 brought a 113 mph gust. 

The storm was well advertised by meteorologists and people heeded warnings to stay indoors, which minimized the death toll. The Associated Press said cities like Dublin, Belfast, Glasgow and Edinburgh were eerily quiet as normally bustling streets were nearly devoid of people, cars and public transportation during the storm. 

Scotland's rail system remained shut down Saturday as crews assessed damage to its network. 

Tree damage is enormous, and some of the damage is to rare or historic specimens. 

In Edinburgh, 15 valued trees in the Royal Botanic Garden were destroyed, including the tallest tree there, a 95-foot tall Cedrus deodara, planted in 1859. The storm also damaged greenhouses in the garden. 

On Glasgow, the more than 500 year old Darnley Sycamore was badly damaged, with several branches torn off.  This tree is reportedly the tree under which Mary Queen of Scots and her cousin and second husband, Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, sat while she nursed him back to health from an illness in 1565.  

Behind the storm, wind and precipitation continued. Wind, snow and ice alerts remained in effect Saturday  and Sunday as a new storm roared in from the Atlantic Ocean. Though not as strong as Eowyn, the new weather system will causing strong, gusty winds and a risk of flooding in various parts the UK. 

Storm Eowyn had a long history.  It began as the bonkers, record breaking snowstorm along the Gulf Coast of the United States on Tuesday. 

Fueled by a combination of an insanely fast jet stream over the Atlantic Ocean, a cold outbreak originating from North America and much warmer than normal ocean waters just to the south, the storm explosively grew into a monster. 

 It mugged the British Isles as it raced past, hitting the west coast of Ireland Thursday night and rocketing away from Scotland's northeast coast by later Friday. 

VIDEOS

Good news account and summary of all the trouble Storm Eowyn caused. As always, click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

First half of this video is the most interesting. It shows a 100 year old building partly collapsing after damage from the high winds. Also lots of trees down along a highway and other damage. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that.