STRONG winds battered Worcestershire overnight, felling trees, causing power cuts and leading to fitful sleep across the county.

But while the gusts appear to have died down this morning, they are predicted to become more ferocious as the day progresses.

The Met Office stated: "The wind will become northwesterly by Tuesday morning, and although easing for a time, it will become very gusty through the day, particularly near showers."

The forecaster's yellow weather warning from yesterday remains in place today.

Violent westerly gusts at speeds of up to 70mph buffeted vast swathes of the country overnight.

Residents in Ledbury, Malvern and Worcester lost power, but Western Power Distribution said this was restored just before 6am.

Meanwhile, road and rail travel was disrupted across Britian, and there was a heroic rescue from a sinking tug.

The tug rescue was at the Esso refinery marine terminal at Fawley in Hampshire where the Asterix had got into difficulties.

One person was seen to jump in the water and was taken to the shore to be treated for hypothermia.

But an employee at the Fawley refinery spotted that a man remained in the vessel and jumped into the water to help rescue him.

A Cowes lifeboat spokesman said: "A Fawley emergency employee who was watching the capsized vessel from the pontoon then just glimpsed an arm in a small pocket of air behind a window.

"Without hesitation, the employee leapt into the water, smashed the window and extracted the trapped crew member."

A coastguard said that all crew in the incident, at around 7.15pm yesterday, had been accounted for.

There were winds up to 70mph overnight in parts of North Wales, the Bristol Channel and East Anglia and, with April beginning tomorrow, snow was forecast for higher ground in Scotland.

Fallen trees blocked railway lines, and busy road-bridge routes had to be closed, including the Dartford Crossing QEII Bridge on the M25, the Ouse Bridge on the M62, and the M48 Severn Bridge.

The high winds led to trains running at reduced speed in north west England, with delays of up to an hour in the Warrington Bank Quay/Oxenholme Lake District area and in the Carnforth area.

A tree on the line led to delays between Exeter St Davids in Devon and Taunton in Somerset, while another fallen tree meant hold-ups between Salisbury in Wiltshire and Romsey in Hampshire.

A tree on the line also caused delays to trains between Aylesbury and London.

In East Anglia, overhead wire problems between Diss and Stowmarket were causing delays of up to an hour to services between Norwich and Ipswich.

To add to commuters' problems, a signalling problem led to delays to trains between Brighton and Haywards Heath in Sussex.


Winds animation from last 24 hours from the Met Office: