Severe gales and snow batter Britain and continental Europe

Severe gales have proved fatal as stormy weather battered Britain and continental Europe. Three people died in the Netherlands as gusts of over 80 miles per hour toppled trees, blew over lorries and ripped off rooves.

Here in Britain, fallen trees  blocked railway lines and roads and thousands of homes and businesses were left without power. And there was a heavy snowfall in the Scottish Borders.

Our Chief Correspondent Alex Thomson is there, and reports now on the extreme weather across Europe.