Winds of up to 105mph battered Britain and Ireland Wednesday as yet another Atlantic storm brought more heavy rain and flooding.
Britain’s Meteorological Office issued a “red warning” – its highest alert level, indicating the winds could pose a “risk to life.”
Wales and north-west England were bearing the brunt of the storm, while the rain posed a threat to areas of southern England already struggling to cope with what is set to be the wettest winter for 250 years.
A gust of 105mph was recorded on the Welsh coast at 2 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET) Wednesday.
Also affected was Ireland, where at Shannon Airport an aircraft was blown onto its side.
More than 20,000 homes and businesses were without power in south Wales, south west England and the west Midlands, ITV News reported.
Weeks of heavy rain have transformed parts England’s green countryside into muddy lagoons, cutting off road and rail links.
The economic damage from the winter has already been estimated at up to $1.85 billion, and the Army has been sent in to some areas to distributed sandbags and rescue owners trapped inside their homes.
Hundreds of homes were evacuated on Tuesday after the River Thames burst its banks, inundating towns and villages west of London.