Two Dead As Gale Force Storms Batter The UK

Gale force winds and storms have claimed a second victim after a man died when a chemical tanker was hit by a large wave in the English Channel.

The Falmouth Coastguard was contacted at 11.40am to reports that three crewmen needed to be evacuated from the vessel off the coast of the south Devon/Cornwall border, a Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokeswoman said.

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

The helicopter then went back for the other two casualties, who were flown to Treliske Hospital in Truro with suspected fractures.

Earlier a man was killed after his van was crushed by an oak tree that was blown down by strong winds, Kent Police said.

Large parts of the UK have been battered by winds of up to 100mph and heavy rain for much of the day.

The driver, who was in his fifties, died at around 12.25pm in Tunbridge Wells.

His vehicle is believed to have been stationary on Sandhurst Road at the time of the impact. A male passenger in the vehicle is not believed to have been injured.

The road has been closed amid fears that another tree in the road may topple.

Earlier the Met Office issued severe weather warnings across nearly every region of Britain.

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Forecasters told those living in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to be prepared, while localised flooding and a marked drop in temperature is expected for parts of Wales and northwest England.

A red warning - the highest - has been issued in parts of central and southwest Scotland. People in those areas are being advised not to go outdoors and to make sure their homes are secure.

Malin Head in the Republic of Ireland has already experienced gusts of 105mph.

The Port of Dover in Kent closed due to strong winds of Force 11 in the English Channel for a number of hours but reopened at 1.40pm.

At Epsom Downs Racecourse the roof of one of the stands blew off and the site was evacuated.

A spokesman said: "There were no injuries to anyone but as a result and after liaising with the emergency services, the racecourse has been evacuated and all non-essential members of staff sent home.

"The emergency services are on site and are monitoring the situation."

Some airports have also been affected by the high winds, with Glasgow Airport urging passengers to check with their airline for delays or cancellations.

Train services have also been disrupted with reports of trees on lines and delays on East Coast services travelling to Scotland.

A bus driver had to be freed after a large tree fell on his vehicle, trapping him inside in Witley, Surrey.

And in Chew Stoke, East Somerset, a woman had to be rescued from her car before it was swept away as the water rose in a ford she was crossing.

Avon and Somerset Police said they had 24 weather-related incidents between midnight and 10.45am, 19 of them relating to trees that had been blown over on to roads.

Elsewhere, people using the railways have had another reason to feel miserable as they are forced to spend an average of 6% more for their journey following above-inflation New Year price increases.

Some rail travellers have seen the price of their tickets go up by more than 10% in comparison with fare prices last January.

The Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) has urged rail travellers to contact the Treasury by tweets, text messages or phone calls to show Chancellor George Osborne their anger.

The Government scrapped its original plan to raise regulated fares by the RPI inflation rate plus 3% this year and instead will raise it in January 2013 and January 2014.

This year's increase was limited to RPI plus 1%.

Last week the CBT released figures which showed that some British commuters are paying up to 10 times more for some season tickets than some of their European counterparts.

Labour's London Mayoral candidate, Ken Livingstone, told Boulton and Co fares could be cut by seven to 11% and there would still be a budget surplus.

"We've got the highest fares in the world and it is not like there's any investment going on," he said.

"If you're on the minimum wage, over a quarter of your income goes to pay your fares to get to work.

"Even someone on an average wage in London has to work five or six weeks a year just to pay the fares to go to work. If you go to Germany, if you go to Paris, it is about half that."

But Transport for London deputy chairman Daniel Moylan responded: "Ken just makes this up. Every penny that comes into TfL is needed for running services or improving the system."

In West London drivers have been stuck in queues created by the continued closure of the Hammersmith Flyover and high winds forced the closure of the QEII bridge on the M25 between Essex and Kent.

The Highways Agency said it did not know when it would reopen.

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Sky weather presenter Nazaneen Ghaffar said: "It will be very windy throughout this morning with gales and damaging gusts in many areas.

"Southern and western Scotland as well as the far north of Ireland will see the strongest gusts of around 75 to 85mph, but these areas could see higher.

"England, Wales and the Republic of Ireland will also see strong gusty winds of around 55 to 75mph as the rain moves away southeastwards with heavy downpours.

"There will be significant snow across Scotland today, a good four inches of snow is possible, mainly on higher ground.

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"Once the rain clears the southeast of England there will be a mixture of sunshine and showers but still gusty winds for north Wales, northwest England and the Midlands later this afternoon."

The unsettled weather is likely to remain in place for the rest of the week with more heavy rain expected on Wednesday.