Two killed as the whole country takes a battering from the storm

TWO men were killed today as winds of more than 100mph battered the UK.A man in his fifties was crushed by a falling oak tree as he sat in the driving seat of a parked van in Kent.

Meanwhile, a crew member on a tanker was killed after the vessel was hit by a large wave off the coast of the south Devon-Cornwall border.

The strong winds swept across the country, bringing travel chaos as millions returned to work after the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Trees fell on to railway tracks and power lines, lorries toppled over on busy roads and flood warnings were issued after rivers swelled.

High seas and swells buffeted ferries and caused the Port of Dover to close, while gusts of wind damaged the roof of a stand at Epsom Downs racecourse in Surrey.

Kent Police said the man who was hit by a tree was from Tunbridge Wells, and was pronounced dead at the scene in the town at 12.25pm. A spokesman said: “A male passenger in the van is not believed to have been injured.”

Also in Kent, the Port of Dover was forced to close between 10:30am and 1:20pm because of high seas.

“There was a backlog of about five ferries waiting to come into the port when it was closed,” a spokeswoman said.

A ferry named Norman Spirit, run by the LD Lines Network, was rocked by waves around the harbour walls.

P&O Ferries’ Dover-Dunkirk services suffered delays of up to 60 minutes, and ferry travel from the mainland to the Isle of Wight was also affected.

Falmouth Coastguard in Cornwall was contacted at 11:40am to reports that three crewmen needed to be medically evacuated from a chemical tanker.

A Royal Navy helicopter from RNAS Culdrose airlifted one of the men, who was unconscious, to Deriford Hospital in Plymouth, where he later died.

The other two casualties were flown to hospital in Truro with suspected fractures.

A top wind speed of 106mph was recorded yesterday at Great Dun Fell in the Cumbrian north Pennines, according to Meteogroup, the weather division of the Press Association.

The wind caused a race meeting in Ayr to be called off, and Epsom racecourse was evacuated after part of the grandstand flew off. There were no injuries.

MeteoGroup forecaster Nick Prebble explained why the country was hammered by the fierce storm.

He said: “A deep low pressure system raced across central Scotland and travelled north-east through the day. Severe gale-force winds caused structural damage in places, and there were gusts up to 100mph.

“Squally rain was being dumped around very quickly by gale-force winds.

“The heavy bands of rain were swirling around, particularly in the northern and western areas.”

Commuters faced misery as the bad weather meant some East Coast mainline trains between London and Scotland started and terminated at Newcastle upon Tyne.

Buses replaced trains on some rail services between London and Harrogate and Hull, rail services across Kent were disrupted and the QEII bridge was closed for much of the day because of the wind.

A spokesman for the Association of Train Operating Companies said: “Incredibly strong winds have caused problems on some parts of the rail network today as trees and other debris have fallen on to the track, blocking lines and damaging overhead wires and signalling.”

He added: “The safety of passengers is paramount, but we apologise to anyone who has been affected.”

The Environment Agency issued 20 flood warnings across England and Wales. It also issued 66 less severe flood alerts.

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