Trees down and £5m super-yacht stranded as 80mph storm batters Britain and kills teenage moped rider

The combination of the long Jubilee weekend and half-term was always going to be too big a temptation for our notoriously uncooperative climate.

But even the greatest weather pessimist could not have predicted how the week would end, with winds of up to 82mph battering southern coasts and persistent rain causing havoc yesterday.

Mountainous waves threatened to swamp holiday resorts, while yachts were swept from their moorings and crushed by falling debris.

Inland, fallen trees caused rush-hour disruption, and in Birmingham, England’s cricket test match against the West Indies was rained off for the second day – the first time since 1964 that the first two days of play have been a washout.

And while today offers hope of a brief break from the deluge, what forecasters have called the ‘European monsoon’ is set to bring further bands of rain well into next week. Read More