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Storm Eunice is causing chaos around London: the London Eye has shut, train journeys have been disrupted, fences have been blown away by 90mph gusts and planes have battled to land at Heathrow.
Now – in what could be the most dramatic event we’ve seen so far – the storm’s winds have literally ripped a hole in the roof of the O2 arena in Greenwich. The white protective tarpaulin is seen flapping in the wind and gusts have created huge gaps in the southern side of the roof.
Witness Thomas Ballinger saw the destruction happen. He told Time Out: 'It's windy as fuck! I've never seen wind this bad.’
Video footage shared on Twitter shows the shocking extent of the damage:
#StormEunice pic.twitter.com/srPgM4dKRh
— Thomas Ballinger (@_Tom_Ballinger) February 18, 2022
Eunice has been dubbed the worst storm in 30 years. The Met Office has issued a rare red weather warning from 10am to 3pm today and Londoners have been urged (once again) to ‘stay at home’.
Photos taken less than an hour apart show how the situation at the O2 has worsened in a short period of time:
The O2 arena hosted the 2022 Brit Awards last week and has a capacity of 20,000 people. Construction of the arena, built under the former Millennium Dome, started in 2003 and was completed in 2007.
This post will be updated with more information as it comes available. Keep up to date with Storm Eunice in London, here.