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Driver killed by falling tree as 70mph gales hit London
Last updated at 18:22pm on 11.01.07
Danger: a fallen tree in Leaders Gardens, Putney. Gale-force winds brought havoc to road and rail travel across London and the South-East
A man died and a woman was lost at sea today as storms hit Britain with gales of up to 70mph in London and the South-East.
In widespread travel chaos, trees crashed onto roads and railway lines, including the Central line track at Snaresbrook in east London.
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• 'Gales and floods wreak havoc across UK'
Gallery: Gales and floods cause chaos across UK
A driver was killed when a tree collapsed onto his car as he travelled through the Somerset village of Britty Common this morning.
In Cornwall, a search was under way for a female steward believed to have been swept overboard from a 24,000-tonne Russian cargo vessel seven miles south of Falmouth.
Visitors to Kew Gardens were evacuated and the site closed after trees were blown down.
Spokeswoman Jill Preston said: "The damage to the collections at Kew is minor but our visitors' safety is our main priority and closing is an act of caution."
A train was damaged when it hit a tree blown across the line near Chatham, Kent.
Another large tree blocked the railway line between Chatham and Sittingbourne delaying the commuter line to London for early morning services.
This trapped nine trains - eight were halted in stations with the ninth stopped on at a signal between Birchington-on-Sea and Herne Bay.
A problem with track points also delayed services on the main Hastings and Tonbridge line into London and at Hither Green part of the station roof was blown off.
A spokesman for Southern Railway said a tree across the track at Coulsdon South caused delays while South West Trains reported delays caused by a tree which had come down alongside the line at Petersfield, Hampshire.
First Great Western services into London were also affected by the weather with a tree down on the line in Paignton, Devon.
In Hertfordshire, a woman had to be rescued when a tree fell on her outside Baldock railway station. Fire crews cut away branches to free the woman, who suffered minor injuries.
A man was trapped in his Land Rover Discovery for more than an hour after a large oak fell on it as he drove to work through the village of West Hoathly, near East Grinstead, West Sussex, at 8.30am.
A chainsaw was used to cut up the tree so it could be lifted off the car. The man was taken to hospital with serious injuries.
In Dorset, a lorry driver suffered facial wounds when he was hit by a plank which blew off another vehicle and came crashing through his windscreen.
Residents in a Kensington square woke to find a tree blocking the road after it smashed onto a car. The 30ft tree, which fell onto a Volvo 4x4 in Edwardes Square, stopped vehicles getting onto Kensington High Street.
Meanwhile P&O and SeaFrance ferries arriving at Dover from Calais needed two tug boats to steady them while docking.
A Met Office spokesman said: "Today we are seeing the worst of the bad weather, with winds gusting up to 70mph."
He added the storms will have passed by the weekend.
