Storm Eunice leaves thousands of homes without power

Energy companies are working to restore power to hundreds of thousands of homes after one of the worst storms to hit the UK in decades.

Three people died in the UK in Storm Eunice on Friday as fierce winds toppled trees and sent debris flying.

A 122mph gust on the Isle of Wight set a provisional record in England, and as of Saturday morning more than 300,000 homes were left without power.

Five people died elsewhere in Europe.

Many train operators extended warnings not to travel into Saturday, including Southern, Thameslink and Great Northern networks, with some routes set not to reopen until later this afternoon.

South Western Railway said it expected considerable disruption across its network on Saturday morning, while Great Western Railway and Greater Anglia services are suspended until about 10:00 GMT.

The M4 Prince of Wales Bridge and the Humber Bridge have reopened, but the M48 Severn Bridge will remain closed until a full inspection can be carried out on Saturday morning.

The Met Office had issued rare red weather warnings for coastal areas of south-west England and south Wales, along with south-east England, indicating a danger to life.

A less-severe yellow wind warning for much of the south coast of England and south Wales remains in place until 18:00 GMT on Saturday.

The Met Office said the latest warning could hamper recovery efforts from the storm.

A yellow alert for ice had been in place for most of Scotland and parts of northern England until 9:00.

Four Five flood warnings were still in place in England on Saturday morning.

The storm closed schools and tore off roofs, and three people died in the UK.

Police in Highgate, north London, said they were called to reports of a tree falling on a car at 16:00 GMT. The woman, a passenger, was pronounced dead at the scene, while the driver, a man in his 30s, was taken to hospital.

The man killed in Merseyside was a passenger in a car heading towards Aintree at about 14:10 when debris reportedly hit the windscreen, police said.

Paramedics treated him at the scene, but he was pronounced dead. The driver was not injured.

In Alton, Hampshire, two men were in a pickup truck when it was crushed by a falling tree. The passenger was pronounced dead at the scene while the driver was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

Police forces and local authorities across the country reported being inundated with phone calls related to the storm, with some having to ask the public only to dial 999 if there was a risk to life.

London Fire Brigade declared a major incident in response to the volume of calls, and the ambulance service in the South Central England region declared a critical incident due to demand on its emergency services.

Among those injured were a woman with her baby, who was hit by a tree in Bedford – hurting her but leaving the baby unharmed.

A driver in Wiltshire was in a serious condition and two passengers were taken to hospital after a car collided with a fallen tree, while others were injured in south London and Henley-on-Thames by falling trees and debris.

Landmark buildings suffered damage in the winds, with panels ripped off the roof of the O2 Arena in London while the top of the spire at St Thomas’s Church in Wells, Somerset, toppled to the ground.

Eunice is the second storm in a week to hit the UK, after parts of Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland were battered by Storm Dudley.

It has also brought dangerous conditions to areas across north-west Europe.

In Ireland, a man in his 60s was killed by a falling tree in County Wexford. Three people also died in the Netherlands after being hit by falling trees, and a Canadian man aged 79 was killed in Belgium.

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