High winds will go on for days

Foul weather with high winds will continue to batter London and the South-East for the next few days, the Met Office has warned.

The news comes in the wake of severe storms over the weekend. A spokesman for the Met Office said: "It will be windy today, with gusts up to 50 mph. This unsettled and windy weather will continue well into the week."

The Environment Agency has imposed 41 flood warnings across the country, eight of them in the South. Warnings are in force on the Medway in Kent and on the Cuckmere between Hellingly and Sherman's Bridge in East Sussex.

Police have reminded motorists that roads remain hazardous. A spokesman for Surrey Police said: "We have trees down all over main roads in the county. We urge motorists to drive with extreme caution."

Four walkers from Forest Gate had to be airlifted to safety after getting into difficulties on the coast near Lyme Regis. In Newbury, a 30-tonne beech tree fell on a man, who was trapped for several hours before firefighters sawed off branches to free him. In Bournemouth a woman and her two young grandchildren escaped when a tree fell on their car in 75mph winds.

In Launceston, Cornwall, police waded chest-deep into a swollen river to rescue a pregnant woman and her seven-month-old baby trapped in their car. The conditions were blamed for an accident in Seaford, East Sussex, in which a car hit a building and killed the 80-year-old male driver instantly.

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