STRONG winds returned to Britain today following a brief respite from storms which resulted in two deaths.
Gusts of up to 87mph were recorded at Capel Curig in Wales at 2am, and speeds of between 50mph and 70mph are forecast throughout the country.
Aisling Creevey, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: “It’s going to be a very windy day.
“We have a cold front sweeping down across northern Britain that’s going to clear south through the morning. We are going to see quite a chilly day, with strong and gusty winds through much of the morning.
“There will be wind gusts of between 60 and 70mph across northern Britain, Wales and south-west England, with gusts of 80mph in exposed areas of Scotland and northern England.
“Showers will become less frequent as the day goes on and winds will gradually ease, becoming fresh and moderate overnight in most places.”
Delays are expected on the M25 because of the closure of the Dartford Crossing’s QEII Bridge.
The Met Office issued yellow warnings of wind for Wales, Northern Ireland and Strathclyde today.
One of the men who died in the high winds on Tuesday was named by police as married father-of-three Christopher Hayes, 51, who was killed when a tree crushed his parked van in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
The second death was a crew member on board a tanker which was hit by a large wave off the coast of the south Devon/Cornwall border.
Pritchard-Gordon Tankers Ltd, the company which owns the tanker, would not name the Briton, but said: “Two crew members sustained injuries when struck by a wave whilst on deck, and a third was injured on attempting to assist. All three were taken to hospital by helicopter rescue.
“Tragically, despite receiving medical attention on board the vessel and helicopter, one of the men did not survive.”
The other two injured crew members were in a stable condition.
Southern Electric said electricity had been restored to most of the 4,000 properties affected by power cuts across its distribution area, which runs from the Isle of Wight up to Oxfordshire.
A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said the force had received a “high number” of weather related calls last night.
