Met Office weather update: Three dead as Storm Bert batters UK - warnings and flood alerts in place

Three people have died as Storm Bert continues to batter the UK. More than 200 flood alerts are in place across England, Wales and Scotland, while Met Office weather warnings remain in place across the UK for heavy rain and strong winds today.

On Saturday morning, a man in his 60s died after a tree fell on a car on the A34 near Winchester, Hampshire Police said. Officers were called at 7.47am on Saturday to the southbound carriageway between Kings Worthy and Winnall and found the driver of a black Mercedes E350 dead at the scene.

Also in the early hours of Saturday, West Yorkshire Police said a 34-year-old man died in a single-vehicle crash on Moorhead Lane, Shipley, at the junction with Beechwood Grove, in which a blue Renault Captur, which had been travelling towards Saltaire, had collided with a wall.

And in Northamptonshire, a man in his 40s died in a crash on the A45 near Flore. Northamptonshire Police said the crash, at around 8.20am on Saturday, involved a silver Toyota Corolla and a dark grey Hyundai i30 Active. Investigations into the causes of the crashes are underway.

Elsewhere, five adults and five children had to be rescued from a house in Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog, near Llangollen in north Wales, following a landslide, North Wales Fire and Rescue Service said.

The disruption comes as milder temperatures melt snow which covered the north of England and much of Scotland at the end of last week.

Dozens of red flood warnings have been issued in England, meaning flooding is expected and residents and business owners should “act now”, according to the Environment Agency (EA).

The Met Office said Storm Bert is likely to cause “dangerous coastal conditions” and disruption across southern England and parts of Wales until 9pm on Sunday, with a yellow wind warning in place. A yellow weather warning for Sunday is also in place across parts of south-east Wales and Herefordshire, which is active until 1pm.

The national weather service has warned some communities may be cut off by flooded roads, particularly in the west of England. Heavy and persistent rain is set to hit the south-west of England into Sunday, with a chance that some places over Dartmoor could see 100-150mm of rainfall, the Met Office said, while Strong winds will exacerbate the impact of heavy rain across the country.

Thousands of homes were without power on Saturday as strong winds tore down power lines, as Northern Powergrid said 27,000 customers were affected in the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire.