DHAKA: A strong storm battered Britain and the Netherlands on Monday, killing three people, cutting power and forcing hundreds of plane and train cancellations as it moved on across mainland Europe.

Winds of up to 160 kmh lashed southern England and Wales, disrupting the travel plans of millions of commuters, the worst storm recorded in Britain in a decade.

A 17-year-old girl was killed when a tree fell onto her home while she slept in the county of Kent, south-east of London, while a man in his 50s was killed when a tree crushed his car in the town of Watford, just north of the capital.

Thin volumes on London’s financial markets suggested many traders had been stuck at home.

A crane smashed into the Cabinet Office, a ministry in the heart of London, forcing UK deputy prime minister Nick Clegg to cancel a press conference, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1924 HRS, OCT 28, 2013
RoR/JCK