'Not seen this much damage in years': warnings storm lashes UK remain after record-breaking

Householders and businesses are being warned to prepare for flooding after the record-breaking Storm Ciarán caused widespread damage and disruption with heavy rain and winds of up to 102mph across parts of England and the Channel Islands.

- Steven Morris

Some people caught up in the storm said they had not seen such extreme conditions for years, and the Met Office declared that a new November record for the lowest mean sea-level pressure in England and Wales had been set.

Scores of people had to evacuate homes and hundreds of schools were shut and buildings damaged. Roads were blocked by landslips and fallen trees, and flights and bus, rail and shipping routes were affected. About 20,000 homes lost power.

A police officer was taken to hospital for checks after a tree fell on his car in Loddiswell, south Devon, and the AA rescued a man with hypothermia from a flood in Newbury, Berkshire.

Two buses were damaged by debris in strong winds in Capel-le-Ferne, Kent, though passengers escaped injury.

A woman died when her car went into the River Tavy, west Devon, yesterday morning, but police said it was not believed to be weather related.

In Dorset, firefighters evacuated 70 people from 198 caravans at Freshwater Holiday Park, near Bridport, with some being rescued by boat.

While the worst of the wind had abated by lunchtime yesterday, the Environment Agency warned that floods could follow with so much rain falling on already saturated ground.

By 5pm yesterday the agency had issued 82 flood warnings for England and 198 flood alerts. Natural Resources Wales said river levels in the far south-west of the country could be the highest ever recorded.

Yellow Met Office warnings for rain remained in place for much of Wales and for England last night, as well as for parts of north-east England and eastern Scotland today.

Another yellow warning was in place for Saturday for a stretch of southern England from Portsmouth to Canterbury.