Severe weather causes damage around UK

Storms have caused damage across many parts of the UK, with gusts of up to 100mph in Scotland.

A man in his 50s was killed in Kent when a tree collapsed on his van, and a crewman died after being injured on board a tanker in the English Channel.

A bus driver in Surrey suffered serious injuries when a tree fell on his bus.

Thousands of people are still without power in parts of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings which remain in place for many regions.

BBC weather forecasters said it would stay windy through the night. Strong winds and gales are also expected across the UK on Wednesday - particularly in the north of England and Scotland - but it will be less windy than Tuesday and gusts are not expected to reach more than 40-45mph.

Around the UK on Tuesday, trees fell on to railway tracks and power lines, lorries blew over on busy roads and flood warnings were issued after rivers swelled.

High seas and force 10 winds caused the Port of Dover to close, but it has now reopened, while gusts of wind damaged the roof of a stand at Epsom Downs racecourse in Surrey.

Police said the incident in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, happened at about 12:25 GMT in Sandhurst Road. They said the van was believed to have been stationary at the time of the impact, and a male passenger was believed to have been uninjured.

The crewman who died was one of three injured men who were rescued by Falmouth coastguards from the Annie PG in the Channel. The other two men were taken to the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro.

Figures published by the Met Office reported wind speeds of 106mph at Great Dun Fell in the Cumbrian north Pennines, and 102mph in Edinburgh.

Travel has also been disrupted, with no East Coast services currently operating within Scotland, and East Coast Main Line trains between London and Scotland going no further north than Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Buses replaced trains on some services between London and Harrogate and Hull.

Also in Scotland, the Kingston Bridge in Glasgow was shut by two overturned lorries, Glasgow Airport warned that cancellations were expected because of high winds and Edinburgh Airport did not accepting incoming flights.

A number of roads were closed in Northern Ireland, including in Belfast and Londonderry, while the Foyle Bridge in Derry was closed. Some train, bus and ferry services have also been affected.

High winds in England forced the closure of the QEII Bridge on the M25 between Essex and Kent for much of the day, while the Tamar Bridge in the South West has been closed to high-sided vehicles.

In Wales, the A40 between Carmarthenshire and Powys and the A478 between Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion were among roads affected, while the Britannia Bridge at Anglesey and the Cleddau Bridge in Pembrokeshire have been closed to high-sided vehicles.

Power cuts

In Northern Ireland 10,000 properties were left without electricity after fallen trees and severe winds damaged power lines, causing hundreds of faults.

In Scotland, more than 70,000 homes were without power. About 8,500 properties in parts of Hampshire, Dorset and Wiltshire have also been without power.

In Wales six homes in Dolgellau, Gwynedd, were evacuated because of arcing power lines in high winds.

The Environment Agency issued 20 flood warnings across the country, including 13 in the South West, three each in the Midlands and the North East, and one in Wales. It also issued 66 less severe flood alerts.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) issued flood warnings for the Moy Bridge area in the Highlands and locations in Tayside.