Mark Sanders reports on the situation from Selsey

Northern Ireland and Scotland was worst hit as forecasters warned of wind speeds up to 85mph.

Structural damage forced the closure of West Regent Street, in the centre of Glasgow which was taking the brunt of the storms.

The Forth Road Bridge, near Edinburgh, was closed to high-sided vehicles and caravans.

Caledonian-MacBrayne suspended or cancelled all early-morning ferry services on the west coast of Scotland.

In Northern Ireland, 1700 homes lost their power supply following a night of gale-force winds.

Roof torn off

In the Irish Republic, rescuers resumed a large-scale search off the southern coast for a German couple feared swept out to sea from cliffs at Toe Head, near Skibbereen, west Cork.

The BBC's Jonathan Ledgard: Power cuts have hit 1,700 homes

In Somerset on Sunday, 51-year-old Mr Anthony Hamblin was killed after gale force winds tore a corrugated iron roof from a building in his home town of Bridgwater, Somerset.

Mr Hamblin was walking along the Bridgwater and Taunton canal when he was hit by the sheet from a shed 50 yards away.

A spokesman for Bridgwater YMCA carnival club, which uses the shed, said an inquiry has been launched and added: "We are deeply saddened by the unforeseen and unexpected nature of this incident."

In West Sussex, an elderly man died when a tree fell on top of him.

Flooding continues to cause problems

Robert Bridger, 70, was killed after being trapped beneath a tree blown over by Sunday's gale-force winds.

Mr Bridger, from Bolney, West Sussex, was playing in his garden with his grandson when the accident happened.

Despite the efforts of ambulance crews to free Mr Bridger, he was certified dead at the scene. His grandson Robert Thomson escaped uninjured, but is suffering from shock.

A 31-year-old woman had a lucky escape in Exeter, Devon, when a tree crushed her car seconds after she got out of it.

Athalie Collins, from Exeter, was taken to hospital with back injuries.

John Mayston of Thames Coastguard: "All the crews got ashore safely"

Elsewhere, a total of 70 people had to be rescued or helped during the day in the North Kent and Essex areas as winds of gale force nine hit the south-east.

The three-man Whitstable inshore lifeboat got into trouble as it went to the rescue of three fishing boats in Herne Bay, Kent.

The crew were thrown overboard when their vessel capsized at the entrance to Whitstable Harbour, but all emerged safe.

Avalanche warning

Floods also disrupted life in parts of the south-west, and high tides and heavy rains breached sea defences in the Bristol Channel.

An avalanche warning remains in place in Scotland, where four climbers were killed last week. Mountain experts say there is considerable risk of further falls.