Storm Antoni: Gusts of up to 78mph winds hit the South West - as disruption continues

Fallen trees have caused disruption to rail services in Devon and Cornwall - as Storm Antoni brought winds of nearly 80 mph to the region.

100 miles of railway between Exeter and Penzance were blocked by the high winds yesterday (5 August).

The Met Office issued a danger to life alert during the amber wind warning, which covered the South West.

Gusts of 78mph were measured at Berry Head in Devon, while winds of 56mph were recorded in Cardinham Cornwall.

Severe road and rail disruption was also reported in the region, the Met Office said.

Great Western Railway had warned passengers not to travel between Exeter and Penzance due to the number of trees which had fallen on the tracks and a number of roads had also been blocked in Devon and Cornwall.

In Cornwall, trains between St Erth and St Ives were cancelled until 11am this morning (6 August) following yesterday's "severe weather", but the service is now up and running.

In Plymouth, a huge tree landed on one man's BMW - just an hour after he parked it with his six-year-old daughter inside.

Keith and Bev Sibley said their 27-year-old son had driven onto their driveway with his daughter just an hour before the huge tree in The Knoll, toppled over during the storm, crashing down onto the car and ripping down a BT line.

Major events have had to be scaled back or even cancelled over the weekend as a result of the weather conditions.

The Festival of British Eventing was due to take place at Gatcombe Park, Stroud today (Sunday 6 August) but has since been cancelled.

Late on Saturday night, organisers sent out a message saying that it had to be abandoned: "It is with deep sadness and regret that, despite great efforts from the organising team, the decision has been made to abandon the Festival of British Eventing", they said.

"This is especially disappointing that it happened during the event’s 40th anniversary.

"The adverse weather experienced at Gatcombe today has made the site unsafe for the event to continue for all our competitors (human and equine) as well as the many thousands of spectators that were due on site tomorrow.

"Safety for all is our main priority. Further information on the refund process will be provided in due course.

"We would like to thank everyone involved in the event for their unwavering support and hard work over the past few days."

Falling trees, riptides and inadequate building structures were some of the dangers people were told to look out for on Saturday during the wind warning, the Met Office said.

The amber warning, which indicates flying debris is possible and could lead to injuries or danger to life, was in place in southwestern areas of both England and Wales until 7pm.

Meanwhile a yellow warning for “unseasonably windy weather” was in place for southern parts of the UK until 8pm.