Heavy storms in parts of Britain have killed at least six people and caused thousands to spend Christmas and Boxing Day without electricity.

A 60ft tree fell on a father, his daughter and her boyfriend, as they drove along High Street, Pengam, near Blackwood, Gwent, just after midnight on Friday.

Gerald Ross, his daughter Ruth and David White died after the tree hit the Ford Fiesta. Two other passengers were treated in hospital for minor injuries.

Blackpool Pier was another casualty of the high winds

Across north-west England, north Wales and Ireland, thousands of people faced a second day without power following the Christmas storms.

Although the storms died down, engineers had to work throughout Friday to restore power connections.

They were forced to give up on Christmas Day night after more winds of up to 100mph made repairs dangerous.

Northern Ireland Electricity spokesperson, Geoff Rigby (0' 24")

Geoff Rigby from Northern Ireland Electricity admitted that they had found it difficult to cope with the number of calls.

In Ireland, a man died on Thursday when a wall collapsed as winds gusting at more than 100mph lashed the south-west of the country.

A 32-year-old woman from Stoke-on-Trent was killed on Christmas Eve when a tree crashed on to her car as she travelled to visit friends on the Wirral.

Anoher car accident also claimed the life of a woman driver in Liverpool and injured a passenger.

Walls have been knocked down by the wind

The damage was described as the worst for more than 20 years. In one town, Bandon in County Cork, more than 100 electricity poles were blown down. Numerous roads were closed by fallen trees and flying masonry.

At a caravan site on the County Down coast at Ballyhalbert, Northern Ireland, nine caravans were destroyed by the high winds.

A 35-year-old woman is recovering in hospital from hypothermia after being lost on a County Tyrone mountain in the early hours of Christmas Day during the storms.

She disappeared from her home early on Christmas Eve and was found in a distressed condition stuck in a bog on the isolated Crockatore Mountain near Newtownstewart.

The air search for French trawler Toul an Trezand and its five crewmen missing off the Welsh coast has now been called off.

An RAF helicopter from Valley on Anglesey continued searching until darkness fell. Merchant ships and French trawlers in the area will continue to keep a lookout for wreckage.

It is thought that the trawler sank during the storms on Christmas Eve.
 

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