The Hirricane of the First Century: At least 500,000 homes, lives and properties lost

Girl, 17, killed by falling tree as she slept, man killed after tree falls on his car, and millions hit by transport chaos as trains are suspended, flights are cancelled and 500,000 are left without power

• At least 500,000 homes in southern England were without electricity after trees and high-winds down power cables 
• 17-year-old Bethany Freeman died today after a tree fell onto the static home she was sleeping in at Hever, Kent
• Man in his fifties also killed in Watford after his car was crushed during morning rush hour
• Dylan Alkins, 14, believed to have drowned yesterday after swimming with friends in waves off Newhaven, East Sussex
• David Cameron calls loss of life 'hugely regrettable' and pays tribute to work of the emergency services
• Roads in chaos as trees fall onto roads as high winds howl through the south of England and Wales
• Flash floods reported in Cornwall, Dorset, Hampshire and Sussex - Devon and Cornwall police report 122 incidents
• Amendments and cancellations on First Capital Connect, Southeastern, Greater Anglia and Stansted Express
• Also disruption on East Coast, c2c, First Great Western, Southern, Gatwick Express and South West Trains
• Ferries from Poole and Weymouth to Guernsey & Jersey cancelled and hovercrafts to Isle of Wight suspended
• 130 flights cancelled at London Heathrow Airport today but Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and Bristol running as normal

Two people have been killed and at least one other is feared dead after Britain was battered by 100mph winds that ripped up trees and destroyed homes in a devastating ten hours.

Bethany Freeman, 17, died today after a tree fell onto her static home while she slept in Hever, Kent, and a man in his fifties was killed in Watford when his Peugeot 206 was crushed as he drove alone to work.

A 14-year-old boy, named locally as Dylan Alkins, is also feared dead after being swept out to sea in Newhaven, East Sussex yesterday afternoon.

Several others have been injured after they were hit by debris while one tree devastated three houses when it fell on a gas main and led to an explosion in Hounslow, west London, where two people are believed to be trapped in the rubble.

The St Jude's storm, the most dangerous for years, hit southern England with gusts of almost 100mph and left at least 500,000 homes without power after it struck at around 3am.

Millions of commuters have been left stranded and warned not to travel today unless it is essential, with at least 40 railway lines blocked, roads left impassable and hundreds of flights cancelled.

David Cameron has said the loss of life as a result of the bad weather is 'hugely regrettable'.

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The girl is believed to have been crushed when the tree fell on her while she lay in bed (pictured)

Police at the scene where a tree has fallen onto a car, reportedly killing the driver, on Lower High Street, Watford

Devastation: This home in Hounslow, west London, was destroyed by a gas explosion this morning after a tree fell on the property. Two people were caught in the rubble 

The Environment Agency has 19 flood warnings and 147 flood alerts in place and rough seas left two cross-Channel ferries carrying 450 passengers stranded outside Dover when the port had to be closed.

 

More...

• Two people feared missing in rubble and pensioner rushed to hospital after 'falling tree ruptured gas main causing massive explosion'
• Did he see it coming this time? Forecaster Michael Fish reveals a birch tree has fallen down in his garden
• The Great Storm of 1987: How the 'hurricane' claimed 18 lives, flattened 15million trees and caused damage costing £1.5billion

The Met Office said wind reached more than 99mph at the Needles on the Isle of Wight at 5am, but less exposed areas are also being buffeted by 70mph gusts.

THE HURRICANE-FORCE WINDS AND TORRENTIAL RAIN BATTERING UK

STRONGEST WINDS
1)    Needles Old Battery, Isle of Wight – 99mph
2)    Langdon Bay, Kent – 82mph
3)    Isle of Portland, Dorset – 81mph
4)    Andrewsfield, Essex – 79mph
5)    Odiham, Hampshire – 78mph

MOST RAINFALL
1)    Otterbourne, Hampshire – 50mm
2)    Wychcroft, East Sussex – 45.4mm
3)    Cardiff – 44.8mm
4)    Hurn, Dorset – 42mm
5)    Wiggonholt, West Sussex – 37.2mm

The desperate mother of Bethany Free comforted her teenage daughter by talking to her as she lay trapped under a tree in a crushed caravan, according to an eyewitness.

Tess Peirce spoke to her daughter Bethany Freeman, 17, while firefighters and neighbours fought to free her but she died a short while later at the scene.

Neighbours Helen O'Connell and her partner Frederic Perdrix were at home next door to Tess's Barn in Lydens Lane, Hever, Kent, when Tess came round this morning urgently seeking help.

Helen said: 'She came round here wanting some help. She was absolutely distraught. She said she had come out of her caravan this morning and had found the other caravan with her daughter in it had been flattened by a huge fallen tree.

'Tess said she could hear Beth speaking. She wanted our help to get her out. All the neighbours came out to try and help.

'A farmer came round with his JCB truck to try and lift the tree off the crushed caravan.
'It was awful. We were trying to console Tess while they tried to get Beth out.

'I think Tess was trying to talk to Beth, trying to comfort her.

'There was no power because the electricity had gone off so we couldn't use any power tools. Neighbours were rallying to find a petrol run chainsaw which eventually someone did.

'But eventually they said Beth had died and there was nothing anyone could do for her.'

A 17-year-old girl died today after a tree fell onto the static home she was sleeping in at Hever, Kent

Emergency services were called to the scene in Hever, Edenbridge, but the girl is believed to have died from her injuries

The caravan was parked in a yard when a tree fell onto it during the storm - crushing it completely

Emergency services were called to Hever in Edenbridge at 7.18am following reports that the 17-year-old girl was seriously injured. But teams were unable to save her

Teams gather at the scene in Hever. Kent woke this morning to winds reaching topping 80mph and more than 100 trees felled