South Cumbria spent the weekend and the start of the week dealing with the effects of Storm Isha.

The severe weather conditions came with wind speeds that topped over 80mph in places such as Shap.

According to some forecasters, it was the worst storm the UK had been subjected to since Arwen back in 2021.

The M6 was a key target of the storm, with multiple lorries overturning in the wind, which included two travelling between Shap and Tebay.

It was not just vehicles falling that were causing problems for commuters, with trees also acting as major barriers for people trying to get to work on Monday morning.

The A684 connecting Kendal to the motorway was closed as a result of that issue, with highways responding to over a hundred calls from across the region late Sunday night reporting similar problems.

The Westmorland Gazette: An example of one of the trees shown to have succumbed to Storm IshaAn example of one of the trees shown to have succumbed to Storm Isha (Image: Newsquest)

Due to this, Westmorland and Furness Council urged residents to only drive if absolutely necessary and to definitely avoid driving through flood water.

Towards Windermere, the ferry service was also cancelled on Monday because of the strong winds.

Across the county, a total of 21 flood alerts were put in place due to Storm Isha, along with 12 flood warnings, with the latter being locations where flooding was expected rather than being possible.

Kendal came dangerously close to being one of the worst affected by flooding, with the levels of the River Kent at Victoria Bridge being nearly a metre over its usual limit in the early hours of Monday.

Power cuts were also a major issue that Cumbrian locals had to navigate, with thousands left without power according to Electricity North West.

And, with the weather conditions refusing to abate, this meant the cuts were expected to last several days despite the fact that ENW assisted 33,000 properties on Sunday.

Whilst not widespread, a number of schools in the area were forced to close their doors on Monday.

This included Appleby Primary School and Long Marton Community Primary School in Appleby-in-Westmorland, and Dean Barwick Primary School near Grange-over-Sands.