Fire crews in the UK have rescued 25 people trapped in their cars by flood water after strong winds and torrential rain battered the UK during the night.
Dorset Fire Control said crews helped people in Sturminster, Blandford, Shaftesbury, Sherborne and Wimborne.
It comes as millions of people hoping to get home for Christmas today face travel chaos as storms continue to cripple the transport network.
Two people died yesterday, thousands of homes were left without power and road, rail, air and sea passengers had their travel plans thrown into disarray as severe weather struck, with more disruption today.
The Environment Agency has issued hundreds of flood warnings across all of England and Wales, with a severe flood warning - the highest level, warning of danger to life - in the South West, where properties are expected to flood.
People travelling today will face widespread rail delays and cancellations with many operators suspending services. The Highways Agency has warned of dozens of road closures and localised flooding.
Gatwick Airport in Sussex is expecting disruption, with some flights likely to be diverted to other airports, and London's Heathrow Airport is also warning of problems and urging passengers to check flight details.
High winds have brought trees down across the country, and engineers and emergency services are working to clear them from railways and roads, while power companies attempt to restore electricity to people's homes.
Some 49,000 homes were left without power yesterday, the Department for Transport said, but at least 15,000 of those have now been reconnected.
Southern Electric said as many as 27,000 customers were left without electricity in southern England, the BBC reported, with 13,000 in and around Aldershot.
The Met Office has a number of severe weather warnings in place as the storm moves across the UK.
It warns of very strong winds across Scotland and Northern Ireland up to 90mph, with sleet and snow expected.
Heavy rain is likely across most of England and Wales, before clearing later this morning.
Winds of 92mph were recorded at the Needles on the Isle of Wight, while 2.5ins (64.8mm) of rain fell at both Tredegar in south Wales and Kenley Airfield in Surrey.
The two people who died were caught in rivers, police said.
A man's body was pulled from the River Rothay in Ambleside, Cumbria. The man, 48, from the Hest Bank area of Lancaster, was swept away by the fast moving water after he and his dog were spotted in the river at 2.25pm.
His body was recovered at 3.30pm after a search by emergency services, lake wardens, coastguard, mountain rescue and RAF rescue. The dog managed to get out of the water, police said.
The man has not been named, but officers are supporting his family. Police urged people to stay away from the water's edge and not to enter rivers or lakes.
A woman also died in a river in Gwynedd, North Wales. Police were called to Nant Ffrancon, Bethesda just before 4pm along with fire and mountain rescue teams, but the woman, who has not been named, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue team spokesman Paul Smith told BBC Wales: "It seems the woman had gone out to check the water supply to her house.
"A little while later her partner noticed she had gone and raised the alarm. The place she was found is just 50 metres from her house. It's a small stream that runs off the mountain - about half a metre wide and three quarters of a metre deep - but it was in full flow."
South West Trains is not running any trains until 10am to allow for safety checks.
Some 35 trees came down across its network yesterday and there was flooding at several sites. Power supplies have also affected signalling, with the West of England and Portsmouth lines the worst affected.
A spokesman for the South West Trains-Network Rail Alliance said: "The past 24 hours have been very difficult for our customers and we are sorry they have faced significant disruption. It has also been a tough time for our frontline teams across the network who have been working extremely hard in difficult conditions to keep trains running."
Southern and Southeastern trains have suspended services until further notice while obstructions and routes are cleared, which it expects to have completed later this morning.
There are no rail services in and out of Gatwick, the airport said, and First Capital Connect said Thameslink services would not run before 8am, with no replacement buses. The Stansted Express is also suspended.
Other operators, including First Great Western, Chiltern and East Midlands trains expect to run a normal service today, according to National Rail Enquiries, though some services may be delayed due to speed restrictions.
Some companies, including Chiltern, are allowing train tickets for travel yesterday to be used today.
Robin Gisby, managing director of network operations at Network Rail said: "We've had engineers out throughout the night dealing with the impact of the storm, clearing trees and debris.
"The main routes to the North from Euston and King's Cross, to the West via Paddington and to the East via Liverpool Street are clear and services will run later this morning.
"However, in the South the impact of the storm has been greater than that of St Jude's a few weeks ago and the railway has suffered flooding and dozens of trees have fallen on the tracks.
"Our engineers need daylight to assess further potential damage and our priority has to be to make the lines safe before we reopen. Services will begin once this is secured.
"We would ask passengers for their patience whilst we carry out these checks and to check with their train operator before setting off."
On the roads, the A249 Sheppey Crossing in Kent has now reopened, the Highways Agency said, after being closed in both directions for most of the night, as have the QEII Bridge at Dartford and the A2 in Kent.
The Orwell Bridge, carrying the A14 near Ipswich in Suffolk and the Breydon Bridge carrying the A12 near Great Yarmouth in Suffolk both reopened at 6.15am, a Highways Agency spokeswoman said.
The M48 Severn Crossing is also closed, though the M4 second Severn Crossing is open.
Kent police also reported two overturned vehicles, on the A20 and the M20, as well as a fallen tree on the M20. The Metropolitan Police said the A20 was closed due to flooding between Green Lane and Frognal Corner.
The Port of Dover has reopened after being closed for the night because of winds of more than 50 knots, a spokesman said.
The Environment Agency this morning had 276 flood alerts and 162 more severe flood warnings in place, almost 120 of which were in the South West and South East.
The severe flood warning was issued last night for the Sea Life Centre and the Preston Beach Road area of Lodmoor, Weymouth.
The Environment Agency said the warning was in place for high water at 11pm last night and for two hours after, and that 10 properties in the area were expected to flood.
A spokesman said: "Both the tide and wind are dropping and the situation is improving."
The deep area of low pressure is expected to move away northwards during Christmas Day, with severe gales across the far north slowly easing, a Government spokesman said.
Gales are likely to increase on Boxing Day, peaking during Friday.
A woman died and a man was seriously hurt in a car crash which happened in "difficult weather conditions", West Midlands Ambulance Service said
Five teenagers were also injured in a separate incident after their car rolled over in "wet and windy" weather conditions north of Wolverhampton, the service said.
The woman died in the crash near Shrewsbury, Shropshire, which happened just after 9.30pm.
"Weather conditions at the time were very difficult," the ambulance service said. It added: "On arrival, crews found three cars at the scene. Firefighters were undertaking life support on a woman in one of the cars. Sadly despite all efforts, it was not possible to save her and she was confirmed dead at the scene. A man from the same car was assessed but was uninjured.
"A man in his 30s from a second car was trapped for over half an hour. He had suffered facial, hip and leg injuries. A woman in the third car was uninjured."
Southern trains suspended all of its services this morning after the stormy weather caused flooding, blockages from fallen trees, power supply failure and landslips several lines.