Severe gales batter south coast

Sea washes up toy Hippos

Heavy rain and gusts of nearly 70mph have battered the South and South West coasts of England.

A merchant vessel was rescued after suffering power failure off Cornwall. In Uplyme, fire crews from Devon and Dorset saved a woman trapped by floods.

The weather cancelled the Torpoint ferry service across the River Tamar between Devon and Cornwall.

Flood warnings have been issued for Hamble near Southampton and Christchurch in Dorset.

Winds have been gusting to nearly 70mph on the Isle of Wight overnight which is storm force, Solent Coastguard said.

On the West Sussex coast at Littlehampton the weather has left the shore littered with toy pink hippopotamuses, red turkeys and Christmas decorations after four containers that fell overboard from a ship a few days ago finally washed up.

Heavy rain has been blamed for a landside at Crewkerne in Somerset which disrupted train services to London.

Flooding, debris and fallen trees are continuing to make driving conditions hazardous in many parts of the region, and motorists are being warned to take extreme care.

In Plymouth, the Torpoint ferries were cancelled due to high tides and exceptional winds. One of the boats collided with a lamp post.

One ferry was put back into service later in the morning.