‘The wind chose VIOLENCE!’: Britons bunker down as 80mph gales slam England and Wales
Gale-force Britain: Runaway trampoline hits cars and a pedestrian, lorries flip over and trees come crashing down on second day of brutal 80mph winds..with hail and thunder on the way
- Travellers should prepare for delays as strong winds and heavy showers battered England and Wales
- The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for wind covering the entirety of the two countries
- The warning came into force at 9pm on Wednesday evening and is set to last until 3pm on Thursday
High winds were causing chaos across Britain this afternoon and even caused a trampoline to be blown half a mile, clattering into cars and a mother walking with her children.
Gusts of up to 80mph have also disrupted travel for a second day. A lorry tipped over near Cirencester and another HGV overturned in Northumberland.
Response teams visited a house struck by a fallen tree near Wednesbury as the gale force winds continued to cause damage.
The Met Office has issued a yellow wind warning for England and Wales and forecasts hail and thunder for later this afternoon.
In Thurrock, Essex, a trampoline was swept up and careered through the streets where it almost wiped out a mother and her two young daughters.
Rae Gilby, 32, was walking her daughters, five and two, to school this morning and had stopped to help one with their coat when the girl suddenly shouted: ‘Trampoline!’
‘It clobbered me right over the head and shunted me backwards,’ she told MailOnline, explaining the metal had left an egg-sized lump on the back of her skull.
The mother, who works at a housing association, is relieved it missed her two children, adding: ‘It probably would have killed them it if it had hit them.’
In Thurrock, Essex, a trampoline was swept up and careered through the streets where it almost wiped out a mother and her two young daughters
Waves crash over the harbour wall in Newhaven, south coast of England
Pictured: An overturned lorry near Cirencester, posted online this morning as Britain endures strong winds across the country
A heavy goods vehicle lies overturned on the A69 westbound between Hexham and Corbridge in Northumberland this morning
The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for wind covering the entirety of England and Wales
A dog walker struggles through the wind in west London today as England and Wales continue to be battered by the weather
Pictured: A trampoline on railway tracks causes disruption to South Eastern train services amid the windy weather
Pizza clutter: Delivery bikes blown over by the wind in Fulham, South West London this morning as the Met Office issue weather warnings for high winds over the next few days
A fallen tree blocks the road on Bannerdown Hill near Bath in Somerset as strong winds and rain hit England and Wales
Pictured: A fallen tree on a house near Wednesbury after Britain endured a very windy night – and a yellow weather warning remains in place for England and Wales
As the winds continued to lash Britain, a blast of 86mph hit Capel Curig in Snowdonia overnight, with speeds over 80mph recorded along the Llyn Peninsula on the North Wales coast.
In Cornwall, more than 100 were left without power at Truro, and in the Midlands 110 were hit at Stourport-on-Severn, 154 at Ross-on-Wye and on the Welsh borders, 60 had no electricity for breakfast at Builth Wells.
Services across the Irish Sea have been cancelled because of the fury of the storms, while Cornwall has seen waves more than 20ft high, bigger than a double decker bus, crashing over sea defences.
Coastguards begged sight-seers not to venture out to take selfies of the waves, warning: ‘No photo is worth a life.’
The RNLI urged people to exercise caution if visiting exposed cliffs, seafronts or piers due to the ‘severe safety risk’ caused by the wind, which is expected to be accompanied by heavy showers.
The charity’s head of water safety Gareth Morrison said earlier this week: ‘In a normal year around 150 people lose their lives at the coast and we know that more than half of those never intended to be in the water
‘So, whether you are walking, running or cycling at the coast, please be extra responsible and avoid taking unnecessary risks or entering the water.’
But the unsettled weather is expected to ease over the course of the weekend, with no weather warnings in place for the weekend.
Meteorologist Greg Dewhurst told the PA news agency: ‘The weekend is set to have an unsettled start but nothing usual for the time of year.’
He added: ‘We could see some strong winds during the early hours of Saturday morning and lots of heavy showers around particularly in the west.
‘But as we go head into Sunday they should become less frequent and not quite as heavy, so it is an unsettled start but as the weekend goes on the winds will start to ease a little bit.’
Winds are expected to reach up to 70mph across England and Wales, one dog was pictured bracing against the gales in Dungeness, Kent on Wednesday
Britons endured a very windy night last night, with one taking to social media to say: ‘London wind woke up today and chose violence’
Coastal areas have been hit hard by the strong winds, with waves crashing against the shore at Blackpool and in Porthcawl, South Wales
