Storm Isha batters UK and Ireland and leaves thousands without power

LONDON (AP) — Tens of thousands of people were without electricity and hundreds of trains have been canceled after the latest in a wave of winter storms lashed Britain and Ireland with heavy rain and wind gusts of almost 100 miles an hour. The U.K.’s Met Office weather service had issued an unusual blanket wind warning for the whole country before Storm Isha, which reached its peak overnight. A 99-mile-an-hour gust was recorded at Brizlee Wood radar station in northeastern England. Ireland and the U.K. have been hammered since fall by a series of gusty and wet storms that have toppled trees, knocked out power and led to flooding along river valleys. Isha is the ninth named storm since September.