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Powerful winds buffeted the England and Wales early on Sunday as Storm Bella triggered weather warnings across much of Britain.
Gusts of more than 100mph were recorded on the Isle of Wight while there was disruption on roads and railways and localised flooding.
Amber warnings from the Met Office remained in force until 9am on Sunday with the storm continuing to pass across the country.
On Saturday evening a gust of 83mph was recorded at Aberdaron in north Wales, according to the Met Office, while in the early hours of Sunday gusts reached 79mph at the Isle of Portland in Dorset and 74mph in Mount Batten, near Plymouth, Devon.
At around 3am, the Needles Coastwatch Station on the Isle of Wight recorded gusting winds of 106 mph.
“Were Bella a Tropical Storm it would now be a Category 2 Hurricane according to Saffir-Simpson scale,” the station tweeted.
Heavy rain had already brought misery over the Christmas period, and yellow weather warnings remain in place for snow and ice affecting north Wales, the northwest of England, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
A band of rain, sleet and snow forecast is forecast throughout Sunday and Monday with accumulations of 1-3cm possible.
A further 88 flood warnings have been issued in England, six in Wales and 12 in Scotland.
Flood defences had been put up in St Neots, Cambridgeshire ahead of the overnight storm, and extra pumps deployed to the Welches Dam and Soham Lodge areas.
The River Great Ouse bursts its banks on 26 December in Bedford
(Getty Images)
Fire crews in north Yorkshire rescued a number of people from vehicles stranded in floodwater overnight.
All trains between Bournemouth and Southampton Central were stopped due to water on the line, Great Western Railway said, and one of the major lines into London was also blocked when a tree fell on to the tracks in Haslemere, Surrey.
In Kent, Southeastern train services were disrupted after a trampoline was blown onto the railway line between Gillingham and Rainham.
Southern said lines were also closed between Ashford and Hastings and Hastings and Eastbourne due to two trees that had fallen on the line. The rail operator advised against travelling.
Roads were closed in Gloucestershire due to flooding and the Met Office has warned of dangerous conditions for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers across the swathe of the UK forecast to see snow and ice.
Through the evening and into Monday, meteorologists are warning the wintry conditions could also pose a risk to more central and southern areas of England.
Further into the week and towards the New Year conditions will remain cold with sunshine and the possibility of wintry showers, the Met Office said.
Storm Bella also enabled the UK grid to generate almost half of its power from wind overnight.
The MyGrid UK monitoring service said 48.9 per cent of the UK’s electricity mix was from wind at 11pm on Boxing Day.
France was also hit by strong winds, with a weather station at the top of the Eiffel Tower recording gusts of 75mph.
Five regions along the northern French coast are under an amber weather warning and heavy snow is forecast elsewhere in the country.
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