Powerful gales wreak havoc across the British Isles and north-west Europe

A furious set of gales inflicted damage for two days over much of the British Isles and northern Europe and score of deaths were reported.  Almost every town in England suffered structural damage and in France a railway train was overturned as it ran on the tracks near Perpignan. In the surrounding coastal waters, more than 120 ships were wrecked with ninety people lost. (By John Osborne)