"YABBER-LINER" - ALL ABOARD

Around 220,000 homes are without power as a storm continues to batter parts of England and Wales.

Rail services across much of southern Britain have been cancelled with damage described as "worse than expected".

The M4 Second Severn crossing has reopened but the M48 Severn Bridge is still closed, while 130 flights have been cancelled at Heathrow airport.

The Met Office said a gust of 99mph (159km/h) was recorded at Needles Old Battery, Isle of Wight, at 05:00 GMT.

The Environment Agency has issued 13 flood warnings - in south-west and south-east England, there are also 152 flood alerts across England and Wales.

UK Energy Networks, which represents power companies across the UK, confirmed 220,000 homes are without power.

Network Rail said more than 100 fallen trees trees have been found on lines, and several hundred staff have been working to monitor conditions and react to any damage.

Robin Gisby, Network Rail's managing director of network operations, said: "While conditions were as forecast during the early part of the morning, the damage caused by the storm has been more severe than expected as it has tracked eastwards to the north of London and across to East Anglia.

"As a result, the West Coast, East Coast and Midland main lines are all currently blocked at their southern ends as a result of fallen trees and damage to power lines and all services are currently suspended on the Anglia route, where the storm is currently."

Tree collapsed A tree collapsed causing a gas main to rupture and led to a possible gas explosion in Hounslow, west London
Scaffolding has fallen in Leyton, east London Scaffolding in Leyton, east London, was unable to withstand the strong winds

Other travel warnings include:

South West Trains have advised people not to travel on Monday with most services not running until at least 11:00 GMT to allow Network Rail to check lines. A reduced timetable will be in operation, with some trains limited to speeds of 50mph

East Coast has no trains running south of Peterborough due to flooding in the tunnel at Potters Bar, and trees on the line at Barnet and Hertford. It is advising people not to travel

First Great Western says it is running services on most routes, with delays and alterations. Services are unable to operate between Salisbury and Southampton, between Maidenhead and Bourne End or between Henley on Thames and Twyford

Virgin West Coast is advising customers not to attempt to travel on services on the southern end of the West Coast Main Line. Services from and to London Euston are suspended due to a tree blocking the line

First Capital Connect and C2C said services are suspended until further notice. Greater Anglia and Stansted Express have also said services will not run until after 12:00 GMT. Southern and Gatwick Express said services will not start at 09:00 GMT and will provide a further update at 09:30 GMT

London Overground will not run a service on Monday before 09:00 GMT, while Southeastern said services might not start until 09:00 or 10:00 GMT, and then with an amended timetable

Transport for London (TfL) said there was disruption to six Underground lines due to debris from the storm on the tracks. The Bakerloo, Central, Jubilee, Metropolitan, Northern and Piccadilly lines were all partially closed

Meanwhile, Chiltern Railways, which earlier said it was hoping to run a near normal timetable, has cancelled services

Airports including Heathrow and Gatwick are warning of possible disruption to flights, advising passengers to check with airlines

EasyJet has warned passengers there could be disruption to flights on Monday. It said no trains would run to Gatwick, Southend, Stansted or Luton airports before 09:00 GMT. Gatwick Airport reports seven cancellations

Several ferry companies have also cancelled services, including some English Channel and Irish Sea crossings

The second Severn crossing re-opened by 06:00 GMT but the old M48 bridge remains closed, and flooding is still affecting roads in Wales

The A249 Sheppey Crossing in Kent and the Queen Elizabeth II bridge on the M25 are closed. The Tamar Bridge which joins Cornwall and Devon has reopened

The Highways Agency is advising motorists to check the weather forecast and road conditions before they travel

Charing Cross Rush hour at Charing Cross station in London is unusually quiet

Swimmers at Brighton beach There have been reported gusts in excess of 80mph on the English Channel - police have warned people to stay away from the sea. These would-be swimmers heeded that advice and opted not to enter the water
fallen tree Many trees have fallen, including this one in Islington, north London

In other developments:

Coastguards will decide later whether to resume the search for a missing 14-year-old boy who was swept away by the sea in East Sussex
East Sussex County Council says refuse collections have been suspended on Monday because of the safety risk posed by the winds
Sussex Police say 125 trees have fallen across Sussex - including one on a taxi in Eastbourne, from which the driver climbed out uninjured
London Mayor Boris Johnson will chair an emergency resilience meeting involving all emergency services and relevant agencies later on Monday morning
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has cancelled his monthly press conference because of a crane collapsed on the roof of the Cabinet Office


BBC weather forecasters said the highest gust of wind at 99mph (159km/h) was recorded at Needles Old Battery, Isle of Wight.

In more populous areas including Lyneham, near Swindon; Yeovilton in Somerset and Hurn, near Bournemouth, speeds of 74-75mph (119-121km/h) had been recorded.

BBC weather forecaster Mike Silverstone said the wind was moving inland.

He said: "At the moment we've got some really strong winds running across parts of southern England and into the south Midlands.

"That core is running north-eastwards into East Anglia in the next two to three hours.

"We will probably continue to see winds of 70 to 80mph before it runs into the North Sea by about 11.00 GMT."

The Metropolitan Police is urging people to use its 101 number during the storm rather than 999, unless there is a "genuine" emergency.

Wind speeds of 115 mph were recorded during the so-called Great Storm of October 1987.

There is more information about the forecasts for Monday on the BBC Weather, Met Office and Environment Agency websites. See BBC Travel News for up to date travel information and the Highways Agency and Traffic Wales websites for details about road conditions. BBC Local has information from your area.