Worst flooding to date

Hurricane type winds from the Atlantic left tens of thousands of people throughout the UK and Ireland without power and one man died.

Around 80,000 households remain without electricity, with Wales the worst affected by the storms, although the figure was reduced from some 150,000 overnight as electricity workers battled to reconnect people.

One man died after being electrocuted while attempting to move a fallen tree that had brought down power lines in Wiltshire, southwest England.

Gusts approaching 100 miles per hour tore at parts of England and Wales, and the River Thames was predicted to rise to its highest level in more than 60 years in places, threatening towns and villages to the west of London.

The conditions brought chaos for commuters, stranding a train carrying hundreds of passengers after overhead lines came down in Yorkshire, northern England.

Passenger Carol Machin told BBC radio: "We haven't moved. It's a complete accident, there's nothing you can do. There's electrical line here, there and everywhere."

The Met Office national weather service issued a red warning -- the highest threat level -- for "exceptionally strong winds" in western parts of Wales and northwest England.