Storm Austen swept another section of Brighton’s West Pier into the sea, turning the exposed remains of a historic landmark into a vivid illustration of a wider day of power cuts, transport disruption and weather warnings across the UK.

Right-wing coverage foregrounded the immediate force of the storm: high winds, hazardous coastal conditions and disruption to journeys during the half-term period. One account reported gusts of up to 80mph and nearly 18,000 homes and businesses without power in England and Wales, alongside warnings of flying debris and damage to buildings.¹ Another placed the collapse in the pier’s longer history, noting that the structure had been reduced to skeletal remains after a 2003 fire and repeated storms.²

That account also carried West Pier Trust honorary historian Professor Fred Grey’s view that the latest loss was part of an ongoing process rather than an isolated event. “All ruins are alive and ever-changing, and this is true of the West Pier,” he said, urging people to keep a safe distance from the site.²

Left-wing coverage similarly focused on the pier’s erosion, but gave greater weight to the broader question of preparedness as thousands of properties lost electricity. It highlighted the Prime Minister’s warning that Britain could face “a winter of greater flooding” and that severe events were becoming more common.³

The difference was chiefly one of emphasis. Both perspectives recorded the same immediate dangers — strong winds, heavy rain, rail disruption and outages — and both relayed forecasts of further severe weather. The right-wing reports stressed the scale of travel and storm damage; the left-wing account more directly linked the disruption to resilience planning and household preparedness. With Storm Boelo forecast to follow, the shared message was that the pier’s collapse was not the only risk requiring attention.¹