Storm-force winds and torrential rain have lashed much of southern England and Wales over the past 48 hours. Swathes of Britain were on flood alert yesterday as the country was battered by the worst weather system since the "Great Storm" of 1987.
Two days of bad weather wreaked havoc across the transport system and knocked out electricity supplies to thousands of homes in the south-east and the midlands. Five people were killed in incidents linked to the bad weather. More than 6,000 were stranded overnight on Sunday on ferries in the English Channel as winds up to 90 m.p.h. battered the ships, preventing them from docking at Dover for more than 16 hours.
With the worst of the weather subsiding by late afternoon, forecasters warned that heavy rain and strong winds would return to Britain on Thursday, with the most difficult conditions predicted to hit southern England. Severe flood warnings on 26 rivers in southern England and Wales are likely to remain in force for several days.
The storm was the worst to hit Britain since 1987 when winds up to 108 m.p.h. hit the southeast of England, tearing down thousands of ancient trees and destroying hundreds of properties. Forecasters said this weekend's storm was particularly bad because the area of devastation was larger than in 1987. Some forecasters suggested climate change due to global warming was the cause of the freak weather.
The highest wind speed recorded on Sunday night was 96 m.p.h. over south Wales. Almost two inches of rain fell in the south-east and the midlands on Sunday and in the early hours yesterday. In the west Sussex coastal town of Selsey, storm-force winds, possibly a tornado, ripped through the caravan park in the early hours of Sunday morning. Caravans were tossed in the air and two holidaymakers were taken to hospital after they were hit by flying glass whipped up by the winds. The nearby town of Bognor Regis was hit by a tornado on Saturday and five people were hurt by flying debris picked up and dumped over 1 1/2 miles away.
The appalling weather compounded delays on the train network due to speed restrictions and repair work being carried out in the wake of the Hatfield train disaster two weeks ago. In the early hours yesterday, train services around Birmingham, Manchester and London were virtually non-existent, with many services cancelled because of fallen trees and broken overhead power lines. Heathrow Express train services from Paddington to the airport were suspended for most of the day due to high winds and debris on the tracks and Underground services were also badly affected because of a fallen tree on the line outside Heathrow.
More than 80 flights at Heathrow and Gatwick were cancelled because of heavy rain and high winds. In London the 450 ft high Millennium Wheel was closed after six of the 32 capsules suffered broken windows when they were battered by the stormy weather.
There was also chaos on the roads. Fallen trees and localised flooding forced several sections of the M25 circulating London to close and many roads across the south-east and in Wales were impassable because of high water levels.
For many people the bad weather provided a bonus day off. Thousands of workers and schoolchildren were forced to stay at home because they couldn't get to their offices, and hundreds of schools in England and Wales were closed.