Storms batter south England

Three people killed as storms 

continue to batter southern 

UK

Extreme weather continues to wreak havoc, with 16 severe flood warnings in place and major disruption to road and rail networks

the Guardian,

15 February, 2014

Three people have died as strong winds, heavy rain and huge waves battered southern Britain overnight, aggravating the problems already caused by widespread storms and flooding

.

A cruise ship passenger died after 80mph winds whipped up freak waves in the English Channel and a woman was killed when part of a building collapsed on to a car in central London.

Bob Thomas, 77, died in hospital on Friday night. He was gathering hens at his home in Caethro, Caernarfon, when a tree fell and hit him.

More than 30 people had to be rescued by emergency services and the army from a seafront restaurant in Milford on Sea, Hampshire, after wind-blown shingle shattered windows and the sea flooded it.

Lymington coastguard, fire services and the army rescued 32 people from the Marine Restaurant in Milford on Sea, Hampshire, at 10pm on Friday, evacuating them in an army vehicle. Hampshire police said there were no serious injuries.

Newhaven lighthouse is battered by waves. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images

A 35ft wide and 20ft deep sinkhole opened near housing in Hemel Hempstead on Saturday morning. Police evacuated residents while engineers tried to prop-up adjacent buildings.

There is major disruption across Britain's road and rail networks, with hundreds of trees uprooted across roads and rail tracks. Many train services have been cancelled.

The Environment Agency and emergency services continue to battle with the latest instalment of the worst winter storms in living memory.

Sixteen severe flood warnings are in place, issued for coastal communities from Cornwall to Hampshire, Gloucester and the Thames Valley, where rivers remain at their highest levels for decades.

Communities across the country have been using sandbags and makeshift barriers to protect their homes and businesses from the floodwaters. On Friday the Duke of Cambridge and his brother, Prince Harry, joined in the emergency relief as they helped fill sandbags in Datchet, Berkshire.

The Queen also offered assistance to farmers in Somerset. A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: "The Queen is supporting Somerset farmers affected by the flooding on the Somerset Levels by contributing feed and bedding from the royal farms at Windsor."

Forecasters are warning of more heavy rainf and gale-force winds on Saturday. Between 10mm and 20mm (0.4in - 0.8in) of rain is forecast to fall on southern England, while the south-west and south Wales could get up to 40mm (1.6in), the Met Office said.

Winds have wrought fresh havoc, with gusts of up to 80mph hitting exposed parts of the south coast.

In central London, a woman died and three other people were injured when the fascia of a building collapsed on to a car opposite Holborn underground station at 11.05pm on Friday, the Metropolitan police said.

Firefighters freed the driver – a 49-year-old woman, later named by police as Julie Sillitoe – and a 25-year-old man who was trapped in the back seat, but Sillitoe, a minicab driver, died at the scene.

Next of kin have been informed.

The man suffered leg injuries, and he and a 24-year-old woman, who managed to free herself from the rear of the car, were taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries.

A police officer looks on as a soldier helps a tree surgeon remove a fallen tree in Egham, west of London. Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images

A fourth person, believed to be a male passerby, was also injured and taken to hospital, London ambulance service said. A further 10 people were evacuated from nearby buildings as a precaution.

An 85-year-old man died on Friday after the 22,000-tonne Marco Polo cruise ship was hit by a freak wave in the English Channel.

Water crashed through a window, injuring a number of people. The man was airlifted off the vessel along with a woman in her 70s, but later died. A number of other passengers received minor injuries and were treated on board.

Waves of up to 10 metres reportedly threatened to cut off Portland in Dorset, while people in Portsmouth have been receiving hoax calls calling for them to evacuate their homes amid flooding fears, Hampshire police said.

Trees are reported to have fallen on trains near Mottingham in south-east London, and near Winterslow in Wiltshire, but no one was hurt in either episode.

All train services west of Plymouth have been cancelled, while a landslide near Redhill has hit the line south of the capital.

South West Trains has cancelled nearly all of its services until it is safe for them to run, while First Great Western is advising passengers not to travel and has speed restrictions of 50mph across most of its network.

According to the Energy Networks Association almost 450,000 homes and businesses suffered power cuts overnight. Of these, 310,000 had power restored overnight but there were still 141,822 cut off on Saturday morning. Almost 900,000 properties have suffered power cuts this week.

Meanwhile, two walkers who went missing on the UK's highest peak in poor weather conditions have been found safe. A search was launched on Friday after the pair became disorientated at the summit of Ben Nevis in the Highlands.

Police Scotland confirmed that the walkers have been traced "safe and well".