Strong winds - and a massive 30ft wave - batter parts of Britain

A series of giant waves were caused by a combination of a storm-swell and perfect offshore winds off the coast of Cornwall.

However in Scotland gale-force winds and torrential rain continued to batter the country today, leaving thousands of people without power and causing travel chaos on the roads.

As the 12-hour storm took hold, numerous roads were blocked by fallen trees, roofs flew off buildings, and some schools were forced to close.

Scroll down for more...

But in Cornwall, surfers waited for days for all the conditions to come together to create the legendary wave which only happens once a year.

But it was worth it as the Atlantic finally showed its awesome power and sent millions of litres of water over the Cribbar Reef off Fistral Beach., Newquay, in the form of a giant 30ft wave.

Engineer Jim Moore, 28, was the only surfer brave enough to catch a tube in the potentially deadly conditions.

As water passed over the rocky shelf - half a mile offshore - a series of huge waves were whipped up by a south-east wind.

Jim, of Porthtowan, Cornwall, paddled out at the notoriously dangerous spot and battled strong currents for just over an hour.

He said: "It was hard out there, but I got a few good rides to make it worthwhile. I did get a couple of beatings.

"One big set came through and landed right on my head and it held me under for a long time.

"Because this is a deep water spot, the waves push you down very deep and it can take a long time to come back up."

Scroll down for more...

The Cribbar is one of England's only legitimate 'big-wave' spots and is recognised as highly dangerous because of strong currents and the proximity of rocks and cliffs.

Dedicated big wave surfers often only go out in pairs using jet-skis to tow each other into the massive waves, but Jim paddled out on a 7ft 9ins board.

He said: "This is only the second time I've ridden the Cribbar and I probably could have done with a bigger board to paddle into the waves.

"I try to surf big waves whenever I can. I've been to places like Hawaii and Fiji to ride big surf, but it's different here because the water is so cold.

"It's still great though, because it's not often you can surf big waves with no-one else out."

The highly dangerous wave has first conquered by three Australians in 1966.