Two people have been killed as fierce winds battered the United Kingdom yesterday.
A man died after he was struck by a falling tree in a park in Retford, Nottinghamshire, and a lorry driver was killed when his HGV toppled on to a number of cars in West Lothian, Scotland.
The powerful storm has also led to the evacuation of thousands of families living on the east coast.
More than 10,000 homes in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex are being evacuated after officials warned that the lives of people in the region could be at risk from the worst coastal tidal surge for over 60 years.
The Environment Agency (EA) has issued a number of severe flood warnings – the highest category, which are only issued when flooding poses a danger to life – to the east coast and north Wales as high tides and strong winds threatened to swamp the coastline.
In Norfolk, 9,000 homes were being evacuated as local officials attempt to stem the damage from the coastal surge.
A further 1,000 properties are to be evacuated in affected areas in Suffolk and some residents in Jaywick, near Clacton-on-Sea in Essex, are also being urged to leave their homes. Local officials are setting up emergency accommodation facilities and handing out sandbags to help people protect their homes, police said.
Police in Humberside have also declared an emergency situation as they prepared for coastal surges last night.
The EA has issued more than 250 flood alerts across England and Wales, including 42 severe flood warnings which are only issued when flooding poses a “significant threat to life”.
The agency said communities along the North Sea coast from Northumberland to the Thames Estuary and Kent, in addition to those on the Irish Sea coast from Cumbria down to Cheshire, could see significant coastal flooding today.
A spokesman said in some areas sea levels could be higher than those during the devastating floods of 1953 – which battered the east coast of England and claimed the lives of hundreds of people.
Defences built since then – including the Thames and Hull barriers – mean that many parts of the country are much better protected, he said. However, some coastal flood defences could be “overtopped” by the combined effect of high tides, high winds and a large tidal surge, he said.
Across the country tens of thousands of properties have been hit by power cuts as winds of up to 140mph battered powerlines.
The Met Office said there had been severe gales of between 60mph and 80mph across Scotland and northern parts of England, and some mountainous regions in Aberdeenshire and Invernesshire reported speeds of around 140mph.
An emergency rescue service worker peering through the window of a bungalow as he waded in floodwater in a residential street in Rhyl, north Wales, yesterday. Photo: Phil Noble/Reuters