UK storms: Man dies amid 'almost unparalleled natural crisis'

The BBC's Hywel Griffith: "Britain's wild winter just seems to rage on"

A man has died apparently trying to clear a fallen tree as hurricane-force winds batter parts of the UK.

The dead man, believed to be in his 70s, was killed after the tree brought down power cables in Wiltshire.

Gusts of over 100mph were recorded as Met Office "red warnings", the first of the winter, were issued. Sixteen severe flood warnings remain in place.

Power and transport networks have been badly hit, in what has been called an "almost unparalleled natural crisis".
Residents in many parts of the UK have been warned not to go out.
Severe flooding
 
Wiltshire Police say the dead man was killed in a suspected electrocution in Bremhill, a village between Calne and Chippenham, on Wednesday afternoon.

 

A caravan was blown over by the strong winds in Aberystwyth

 

Strong winds have been sweeping through swathes of the UK

 

Severe flood warnings remain for Berkshire, Surrey and Somerset, which have already been hit by severe flooding, with hundreds of homes evacuated.

Surrey Fire & Rescue said it had rescued 250 people from the floods on Wednesday.
A total of 850 people have been rescued in the county since Sunday.
112mph gust
As of 21:00 GMT on Wednesday, about 115,000 homes in parts of England and Wales were still without power.

The figure included about 52,000 in mid and north Wales, and 23,000 in south Wales.
About 13,000 homes in the West Midlands were still without power while 10,000 homes in Cheshire, 2,500 homes in the Wirral and 5,500 homes in north Shropshire were without power.
Some 3,000 homes in south-west England remained without power.

Phil Davies, network service manager for Western Power, said his engineers were facing the most difficult conditions they had ever seen.