Britain and France lashed by storms

Two tornadoes have hit the south coast of England

Southern England and northern France are in the grip of a severe storm, with winds of up to 90 mph and torrential rain.

The weather is causing chaos, with the UK port of Dover closed, Eurostar trains between England and France suspended, and no flights from Paris' Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport.

More than 40 rivers across England and Wales are on flood alert. The weather is causing road chaos with hundreds of trees toppled across carriageways and power lines.

ALSO Second tornado hits English coast Tornadoes: Not just a U.S. phenomenon

Severe storms are also battering Northern France, and authorities there are warning people to take extra care in coastal areas.

Police in the UK warned people to stay indoors and off the roads as 90 mph winds ripped into the coast from Lizard Point in Cornwall to Ramsgate in Kent.

The crew of a Norwegian freighter had to be rescued from their ship off the Scottish coast.

Chaos on Britain's rail network, much of which was closed down for emergency safety work over the weekend, has been made worse by the storm.

A London underground train struck a tree on the Piccadilly line in Purley on Monday morning. The train had just left the depot and was not carrying passengers but was extensively damaged. Services on the line have been suspended.

All Heathrow Express, Valley Lines, Thames Trains, Wales & West and First Great Western services have been suspended until further notice and no plans had been announced for replacement road transport.

Rail passengers escaped injury when two trains smashed into trees brought down by gales in separate incidents near Guildford, Surrey and Evesham, Worcestershire, yesterday.

One person was killed and two were seriously injured when a tree fell on two vehicles on the A3, near Hindhead, Surrey.

"One person was confirmed dead at the scene and two others were taken to the Royal Surrey County Hospital with serious injuries," a police spokesman said.

Ray Kemp, of the Environment Agency, warned that the conditions represented a real risk to life and limb.

"The situation is going to get far worse ... we are expecting the River Uck to burst its banks and the town of Uckfield to be flooded in East Sussex, we are also expecting the town of Lewes in East Sussex to be flooded once again as the midday tide comes in," he said.

"Nobody should venture out unless it is absolutely essential. It is one of the severest storms, if not the severest storm, since 1987."

A tornado swept through a south coast caravan park on Monday morning, leaving two people injured and a trail of wreckage.

The twister hit the West Sands Caravan Park in Selsey, West Sussex, just after 7 a.m.

On Saturday, a tornado swept ashore just a few miles away, at Bognor Regis, damaging homes and injuring at least four people.

A river has burst its banks in Gillingham, Dorset, flooding 30 houses, police said.

Severe flooding has also hit North Tawton, Devon, Taunton, in Somerset, and the Environment Agency warned homes in nearby Wellington and Allerford in west Somerset and Chew Magna in north Somerset could be flooded later.

An Environment Agency spokeswoman said 80 mm of rain had fallen in the south west in the last 24 hours, with 40 mm falling in Sussex and Kent.

She said severe flood warnings, where water was posing an "imminent danger to property and life" were in place on the rivers Taff and Cynon in Wales, the East Lyn and Chew in Devon, the Tone in Somerset, the Cuckmere in East Sussex and the rivers Tiese and Rother in Kent.

"There have been atrocious conditions overnight," she said, adding: "All our flood warning centres across England and Wales are reporting heavy rain with more to come."

Tornado wreaks havoc in English resort
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Second tornado hits English coast
October 30, 2000
Tornadoes: Not just a U.S. phenomenon
October 30, 2000

The Met. Office
The Environment Agency

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