- Downing Street says that around 8,000 properties are still without power due to another violent Atlantic storm
- Winds of up to 92mph have caused 'airborne debris' to fly into overhead lines and made repairs difficult
- Gusts of up to 70mph expected inland across parts of south Wales, Devon and Cornwall, Somerset, Dorset
- Met Office warns winds likely to be 'similar sort of strength' all day and poor weather will continue until weekend
- Environment Agency has issued four severe flood warnings which are only put in place when there is 'danger to life'
- Prime Minister pledges extra £100m for flood defences and chairs COBRA national emergency committee
- An estimated four million people have been left outside shut Tube stations or left scrambling for buses or taxis
Thousands of homes and businesses are flooded, damaged or without power today after another violent storm hit Britain's coast.
More communities in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and South Wales are now under water after rivers burst their banks and sea defences were breached by huge waves driven in on gale-force gusts.
At least 8,000 properties are still without power and 60,000 homes had to have it restored after winds peaked at 92mph overnight and smashed overhead cables with 'airborne debris'.
The terrible weather also caused transport chaos after large chunks of infrastructure were damaged by the Atlantic storm, including in Devon where the railway line to London was washed away.
Around four million people have also been suffering nightmare commutes as much of the London Underground was shut down after a 48-hour strike by Tube workers started last night.
David Cameron has today promised an extra £100million for flood defences and agreed to chair a meeting of the Cobra national committee to discuss the storm crisis.
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Rising water: A waterside bar is pounded by the waves in Plymouth as the south-west bears the brunt of the Atlantic storm that first hit overnight
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Dramatic: The church at Porthleven in south-west Cornwall is engulfed by waves during the high winds again battering the country over the next 24 hours
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Country and coast: Residents look at flood water in the village of Ruishton on the stricken Somerset levels near Taunton while the railway line at Dawlish, Devon has been left hanging in mid-air after the sea wall was washed away by huge waves
As wind, high tides and huge waves continues unabated there are 67 flood warnings and 213 flood alerts in place, according to the Environment Agency.
PM PLEDGES EXTRA £100MILLION
An extra £100million in emergency funding has been found to deal with the damage caused by the devastating floods.
David Cameron said the extra cash was new money which would be used for repairs, maintenance and tackle long-standing problems on the Somerset Levels.
He also took a swipe at the Environment Agency’s decision to stop dredging in some areas, insisting what is right some parts of the country could be right for others.
‘There shouldn’t be a false choice between protecting the town and protecting people in the countryside,’ he added.
Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions Mr Cameron announced that additional money had been found from Treasury funds to deal with the clean-up.
He told MPs: ‘Let me announce today that a further £100million will be made available to fund essential flood repairs and maintenance over the next year.
‘This will cover £75million for repairs, £10million for urgent work in Somerset to deliver the action plan which is being prepared by the local agencies and £15million for extra maintenance'.
Labour leader Ed Miliband told the Commons: 'Many of those affected feel the Government's response has been slow and that more could have been done sooner.'
The Environment Agency said this morning's high tide caused problems, particularly in Dawlish.
'We are now waiting for the next high tide, which will be at around 5pm,' the spokesman said.
'We don't think it will be as extreme as the one this morning. We have a band of rain coming in now which could see some impact, particularly in Somerset.
'We are currently checking damage done by the wave action, making sure emergency repair work is done, making sure flood defences can stand up to any further wave action.'
The Hoe in Plymouth experienced large waves and damage to some properties.
Devon and Cornwall Police warned residents to stay away from coastal areas as they dealt with a large number of calls relating to road debris, damage to property and flooding.
'There remains a host of minor road closures throughout the region due to road debris and fallen trees,' a spokesman said.
'Motorists are warned to expect the unexpected on rural roads and drive according to road conditions.
'Flood water should also be avoided and speeds should be lowered on the region's main road network.'
In the South-West 200 electrical engineers have been working through the night to repair damage caused by debris being blown into overhead lines by strong winds.
A forecaster at the Met Office said the winds in the south west are likely to 'continue along a similar sort of strength' into today, and people can expect weather in other areas to be 'much of the same' as they have been experiencing.
It issued 'be prepared' amber warnings for strong winds across southern England and Wales.
'The band of rain which is moving across from the south west will continue its journey north-eastwards during the course of the night, with fragmented outbreaks of rain - still pretty heavy - following on behind,' a spokesman said.
'It will continue to be very windy. We can expect to see gusts of 60-70mph quite widely across parts of south Wales, Devon and Cornwall, Somerset, Dorset, those sorts of areas.
'But even inland we can see some strong gusts too. Otherwise it's much of the same really,' the forecaster said.
Speaking specifically about the south west and the chances of the winds subsiding overnight, he added: 'I would suspect they will probably continue along a similar sort of strength.
'That's part of the reason why the conditions have been so bad at the moment, so no, I don't think we're going to see any easing of the winds really until maybe late Wednesday or for a time through Thursday. Until then, some very strong winds to come.'
The Prime Minister today decided to take personal charge of the latest meeting of Cobra - which has met on a daily basis for most of the flooding period - because of the scale of last night's storms, which had inflicted disruption affecting several ministries/
'We saw last night more severe storm weather which has had a significant impact on power supplies,' his official spokesman said.
'It's also had an impact on transport infrastructure, particularly the railway line from Exeter into Cornwall, as well as of course impact on flooding, including on areas that are already suffering from flooding.
'So it will an opportunity for the Prime Minister to be able to get the very latest on what is being done in all of those areas.'
The spokesman said that 60,000 homes had been reconnected to power supplies overnight, and that 8,000 which remained cut off were expected to be reconnected over the course of the day.
Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions Mr Cameron later announced that an additional £100million had been found from Treasury funds to deal with repairs, clean-up and flood protection.
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Destroyed: The track at Dawlish is impassable with rail bosses warning that services through Devon to London will be disrupted for at least today
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Destructive: The sea wall at Dawlish, Devon, has been broken by ferocious waves while a Devon ice cream stand has been damaged and swept away
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Crazy: Despite being repeatedly warned to stay away from the coastline lines of wave watchers got up close at Porthcawl in South Wales today
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Debris: The rubble of damaged sea defences and pathways is shown here scattered along the seafront in Penzance today
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Before and after: The coastal Wet Wok Chinese Restaurant in Plymouth, Devon, is shown here as a wave relentlessly hit and then poured out of its broken windows
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Reckless: A TV crew put their lives in danger as they film a damaged section of the Dawlish sea wall as water cascades over it
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Torn away: Sea wall, paving slabs and railings were ripped up and tossed aside overnight on the Devon coast
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Wild seas: A sailor is helped lifted off by a military helipcopter after a Spanish cargo ship that slammed into a jetty in choppy Atlantic Ocean waters off Anglet, south-western France
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Casualty: This 150 year old tree has been taken down by the high winds at the Hotel Dyfryn in Ardudwy, North Wales
High winds and stormy seas have led to further damage to one of Britain's most recognisable seaside piers.
A section of the 148-year-old, Grade-I listed West Pier in Brighton fell victim to the weather overnight.
Rachel Clark, chief executive of the West Pier Trust, which owns it, said: 'There have been collapses for several weeks as we've had the high winds, but this is more significant and obvious.
'A significant section of the pavilion island skeleton has collapsed. It's very sad but it was always going to happen.
'It's not being maintained and eventually the elements are going to take their toll, and they have again this time but much more significantly.'
Seven boats moored in a Cornish harbour were sunk by the monster storm that swept over Britain.
In Porthleven the sea has smashed through the harbour sinking the boats.
A Coastguard said: 'The pier is pretty much submerged most of the time with waves breaking over the top of the tower.
'It's probably the worst we've seen down here since 1989.'
Michelle Powell, from the Horse and Jockey Bakery, said: 'I have never seen it as bad as this in 50 years.'
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Flood warnings: A total of 218 flood alerts, 69 flood warnings, and nine sever flood warnings are in operation across Britain today, according to figures provided by the Environment Agency
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Get ready: The Environment Agency has issued 213 flood alerts, mostly in the south, left, while experts have warned waves reaching huge heights are hitting the UK, the biggest are on black
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Forecast: The Met Office has issued a severe weather warning for more gales and heavy rain running into Saturday
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More misery: The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings for the next four days as rain and strong winds are forecast
Live stream courtesy povee.co.uk
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Crush: Hundreds of people try and get on Jubilee line trains at London Waterloo this morning where a limited service was running because of a damaging strike
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Stuck: Miserable travellers were left shut-out of stations while others crammed onto packed buses from dawn because of a lack of Tube services
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Gridlock: Traffic was much heavier on the North Circular in Woodford in north east London as workers took to their cars on the first day of the Tube strike in the capital
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'Asleep on the job': A London Underground ticket office worker appears to be sleeping in her chair as she relaxes at Paddington station. Today Underground workers walked out on strike over proposals to axe 950 ticket office jobs
Winds of up to 92mph have been reported in the Isles of Scilly while police in Devon and Cornwall have received at least 70 calls about fallen trees in the space on just one hour.
The Environment Agency issued four severe flood warnings which are only put in place when there is 'danger to life'.
The warnings are in the south west - at West Bay Harbour, Lyme Regis Harbour and Weymouth Seafront at The Esplanade.
Dawlish in south Devon was at the centre of a major incident today after part of the sea wall and a railway platform was washed away.
On the seafront huge granite blocks had been ripped out by the force of the crashing waves and gales and 20 homes had to be evacuated and people moved to a leisure centre.
Assistant Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall Police Paul Netheron warned people not to go to coastal areas to see the impact of the storms saying: 'We don't want people washed out to sea. We don't want to lose any more lives.'
In Kingsand, Cornwall, 30 homes were evacuated as well as others in Torcross, Devon and Brixham Coastguards in Devon said condition at sea were 'treacherous'.
Police received 400 calls about weather related incidents and 80 trees came down in Devon alone.
Residents were last night evacuated from 30 flooded houses in Kingsand, Cornwall and Tamar Coastguard Rescue Team helped to rescue 'a number of people', the coastguard said.
Meanwhile, there were further reports of flooding in Looe, where people were advised to stay away from the seafront amid fears of huge waves battering the coast.
There were also reports that the sea wall had collapsed in Dawlish, Devon, where two people had to be rescued having been trapped in a car.
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Damage: Beach huts that were once standing on the sea wall are now wrecked and destroyed in Dawlish
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Victims: Ever-present flood waters have continued to rise in parts of the Somerset Levels for weeks as cars try to make their way through the village of Ruishton near Taunton
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In trouble: A mother and her son watch the rising waters at Portland in Dorset while police officers help fill sand bags in Moorland, Somerset
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Raw: Here in Chesil Cove Dorset dishing boats were torn from their moorings on the sea wall and thrown upwards at the height of the storm
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Weather wreckage: Workmen at West Pier in Brighton look at the wreckage left by the storm last night. Another large part of the structure collapsed in high winds
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Sea-selfie: A group of young men take a picture of themselves as a wave crashes over them in Cornwall
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Results of the storm: Waves have crashed into the coastal railway at Dawlish left, damaging the line and also flooding streets the other side, right
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Protecting communities: The police and fire brigade work to pump water out of the flooded Tywarnehayle Inn in Perranporth, Cornwall after it had flooded after the severe storms hit
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Trapped: A pumping station near in the South West works at full capacity, where some residents have been advised to evacuate their homes because the water has nowhere to go
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Rescue: Efforts are stepped up to make sand bags to prevent residents homes being flooded in Dorset where water already encroaches homes
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Teamwork: A rapid response team shovel sand into bags using spades and even their hats as they rush to protect properties in Moorland
Meanwhile a mixture of the Tube strike and the terrible weather meant millions were were hit by delays and disruption today.
Picket lines were mounted across the capital today outside Tube stations, while the two sides in the dispute continued to argue over the ticket office closures.
Politicians have condemned the industrial action, with Conservatives again calling for changes to employment laws covering the numbers voting for strikes in a ballot.
London's mayor Boris Johnson called the strike 'pointless' and urged the unions to call it off and return to talks.
Bob Crow and Manuel Cortes, leaders of the RMT and TSSA unions, accused the mayor of refusing to meet them to discuss the ticket office closures.
As the row raged, commuters and other passengers faced travel misery until services return to normal on Friday.
Another 48-hour strike is planned from 9pm next Tuesday.
Business groups warned the strikes will cost London's economy tens of millions of pounds.
TRAVEL CHAOS HITS: TUBE STRIKE IN LONDON, DISRUPTION ON THE ROADS, TRAINS CANCELLED... AND FLOODING
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Going nowhere fast: Commuters at London Bridge Underground Station as a strike caused gridlock on roads and massive disruption on Tubes and buses
There were 4,679 congestion hotspots across Britain at 8.45am this morning, according to figures released by TomTom Traffic. In total there were 3017 miles of tailbacks, causing 392 hours of delays. In the Greater London area alone, the number of traffic hotspots was 1307.
ROADS
A1 - The Highways Agency are reporting delays of two hours southbound between the junctions with the A46 and the A607 near Newark-on-Trent following a multi-vehicle accident which closed the road between the junctions with the A607 and the A151. Road expected to re-open from 12:30 pm.
RAIL
In Dawlish, between Exeter and Cornwall, a section of seawall under the coastal railway line collapsed and two people had to be rescued from a car.
First Great Western said all lines between Exeter St Davids and Penzance had been closed until at least the end of today.
On South West Trains, a landslip at Botley, Hampshire, means trains cannot run between Eastleigh and Fareham. The incident has been ongoing since February 1.
On Southeastern trains a landslip between Robertsbridge, East Sussex, and Battle is causing disruption on the line between Tonbridge and Hastings.
UNDERGROUND
A 48-hour tube strike got underway last night - and although a skeleton service is in operation most services are cancelled. Many stations are closed altogether, with occasional services on most lines.
Bakerloo - Trains from Queen's Park to Elephant & Castle. Not stopping at Edgware Road, Embankment, Kilburn Park, Lambeth North, Maida Vale, Piccadilly Circus or Regent's Park stations
Central - No service through the central area. Trains from Epping to Leytonstone, and West Ruislip to White City
District - Trains from Upminster to Wimbledon every eight minutes, and Ealing Broadway to High St Kensington every 20 minutes. Not stopping at Aldgate East, Becontree, Blackfriars, Bromley-by-Bow, Dagenham East, Dagenham Heathway, East Ham, Elm Park, Gloucester Rd, Hornchurch, Plaistow, Sloane Sq, Stepney Green, Temple, Upminster Bridge, Upney or Upton Park
Hammersmith & City and Circle - Trains Hammersmith to Moorgate. Not stopping Barbican, Euston Square and Great Portland Street
Jubilee - Trains Stanmore to Finchley Road, and Waterloo to Stratford. Not stopping Bermondsey and Southwark
Metropolitan - Trains Harrow-on-the-Hill to Aldgate. Not stopping Barbican, Euston Square, Great Portland St, Northwick Park and Preston Rd
Northern - Trains over the whole line (except to Mill Hill East) via Bank and Charing Cross branches. Not stopping at Borough, Chalk Farm, Clapham North and South, Colliers Wood, Embankment, Goodge St, Hampstead, Highgate, Leicester Sq, Mornington Crescent, Old Street, Oval, South Wimbledon, Tooting Bec, Tufnell Park and Warren Street.
Piccadilly - No service through the central area. Trains Acton Town to Heathrow Terminals 1-3 and Arnos Grove to Cockfosters. Trains not stopping at Heathrow Terminal 4 or Southgate
Victoria - Trains Seven Sisters to Victoria, not stopping Warren Street
Waterloo & City - No service
Bob Crow described the industrial action as a 'rock solid' response.
'FIELD OF HOPE' IN STORM GLOOM
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A host of golden daffodils was brightening up the otherwise gloomy, damp winter days after flowering unseasonably early today.
Despite the seemingly incessant rainfall, temperatures have remained above average, leading to spring flowers blooming ahead of time.
This patch, on a junction off the A3 near upmarket Esher, in Surrey, was already well on its way to a full bloom by today.
There are five main varieties of the popular plant, with February Gold being among the first to appear.
Daffodils are a common site nationwide from February to May, often planted on roadside verges and greens to create stunning golden carpets.
The Esher example has been named Marie Curie Cancer Care 'Field of Hope', raising awareness for the charity, whose emblem is a daffodil.
'As we expected the action is rock solid this morning and has reduced the network to a skeleton service with only a few ghost trains running through closed stations,' he said.
'That is simply a reflection of the staff anger at attempts to bulldoze through cuts to jobs, services and safety which would reduce the Tube to a dangerous, hollowed-out shell'.
Fewer than a third of normal Tube trains were running during this morning's rush hour with 'overwhelming' support for the action from his members.
Mr Cortes said:'All we have is a fringe service in the outer suburbs with virtually the whole of central London dependent on a skeleton service. Over 70% of the normal service is at a standstill.
'It is now time to end government by gimmick and for Boris to enter serious talks.
'His so-called army of volunteers has turned out to be a phantom army as the scores of closed sations illustrate only too clearly.
'Londoners and the travelling public deserve better than this. We remain ready to talk immediately, any time, anywhere.'
Meanwhile train passengers were also having problems because of a return to the wet and windy weather which has devastated travel across the UK.
Southeastern trains said the forecast weather, after the wettest January for a century, presented a risk of further flooding, landslips and falling trees.
Network Rail has put in place a 40mph speed restriction across parts of the Southeastern network.
First Great Western Trains have also issued a severe weather notice warning customers that train services between Exeter St Davids and Penzance are suspended 'due to current weather conditions in the Somerset, Devon and Cornwall area'.
Later it said all lines between Exeter St Davids in Devon and Penzance in Cornwall were closed.
'We are unable to offer a train service west of Exeter St Davids towards Penzance due to further overnight severe weather conditions,' a spokesman said.
'We are working with Network Rail to evaluate the rail conditions in many areas.
'Some branch line services in Devon and Cornwall are starting to operate. We are unable to procure road transport as many of the roads have been affected by the weather conditions.
'We would strongly advise customers not to attempt to travel for the rest of today.'
People have been warned to stay away from the coast as they would be risking their lives.
But this did not deter the many who wanted to photograph waves and damages caused by the dangerous conditions.
Last month during more violent storms several people were killed after being swept away or blown off cliff as they tried to close.
The majority of the deaths were in Devon or Cornwall.
David Colmer, Brixham Coastguard Watch Manager, said: 'As we have severe gale storm force winds, high tides and heavy rain, HM Coastguard is urging people to stay away from the coast.
'In this part of the country, conditions on the sea and along the coast are currently extremely treacherous.
'HM Coastguard's advice is simple: don't take risks by straying too close to cliff edges or breaking waves and please stay out of flood water. But if you do get into difficulty, or spot someone who might be in trouble, call 999 and ask for the Coastguard.'
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Drama: Firefighters rush to tackle the floods in Penzance, Cornwall, overnight after the sea defences were breached by high tides and huge winds brought in by yet another Atlantic storm
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Danger: The small coastal village of Port Melon near Mevagissey in Cornwall has been battered by storm force winds and mountainous seas in the early hours today
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Across the Irish Sea: Cork in southern Ireland is under water after the River Lee burst its banks overnight
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Dreadful conditons: Waves crashed relentlessly into the coast at Teignmouth, Devon as the South West was battered again
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Slippery conditions: A risk-taker walks past a Penzance bridal store as a torrent of sea water rushes over their feet
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Flooding: Thousands of homes are without power and trains have been cancelled after strong winds battered parts of the country. Flooding also hit large parts of Ireland yesterday
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Forecast: The Met Office has said winds in the south west are likely to 'continue along a similar sort of strength' into today. A car is pictured submerged in the heavy flooding in Cork city
Large parts of Ireland were yesterday also hit with a second day of flooding with forecasters warning of more high winds and heavy rain.
Cork, Waterford, New Ross and parts of county Galway, Clare and Kerry were among the areas worst hit as Met Eireann said conditions show no signs of easing through the week.
An orange alert is in place until winds ease back later in the day but the risk of repeated flooding later in the week will be determined by the size of high tides and wind direction, forecasters said.
The bad weather continues hours after the Prince of Wales said the 'tragedy' on the flood-hit Somerset Levels is that 'nothing happened for so long'.
Prince Charles made the remarks as he met local farmers, flood victims and emergency services personnel who have been affected by the on-going disaster.
He pledged a £50,000 donation to support flood victims, with the Duke of Westminster matching the funding with an additional £50,000.
Charles' comments came amid growing anger over a perceived lack of Government action to help flood-hit areas on the Levels.
Residents have begged the Environment Agency to start dredging, with many complaining they are living in 'third world' conditions with 'overflowing' septic tanks.
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