A brief but vicious storm has left two people dead and more than a dozen people injured after gales reached 106mph as they swept across the UK.
The tempestuous end to the mildest Christmas and new year holiday for 14 years saw ferries halted at Dover, airports closed and more than 25,000 people left without power.
Trees toppled on to the roads in Tunbridge Wells, where a van driver in his 50s was killed. A spokesman for Kent police said: "His van is believed to have been stationary at the time of the impact. A male passenger in the vehicle is not believed to have been injured."
A crewman injured on board a tanker in the Channel has died.
Torrential rain downpours saw parts of Cornwall, Devon and Wales come close to flash-flooding with 5mm (0.2in) to 6mm (0.24in) of rain in an hour. But defences held although standing water on roads added to problems caused by tree falls and high winds.
Traffic disruption was widespread with trees blocking commuter routes in Greater Manchester and outer London while lorries blown over by severe gusts caused further difficulties. Two overturned on the north-south M6 and trans-Pennine A66 in Cumbria, close to Great Dun Fell, where at an altitude of 848m (2,782ft) the day's fiercest gust of 106mph was recorded.Buses replaced trains in many areas, including all east coast services in Scotland. Other services between London and the north suffered heavy disruption, as well as some services in Cornwall. The Dartford Crossing slowed to a crawl although conditions generally were less drastic on the eastern side of the UK.
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