Boy, 12, crushed to death after saving his brother

A young boy died when he was crushed by a falling tree trying to save the life of his older brother during the weekend's storms, which claimed the lives of dozens of people across Europe.

Christopher Vince, aged 12, pushed his brother clear of the toppling tree but was unable to get away to save himself.

Attempts by a neighbour to cut him free with a chainsaw failed. His brother, Ben, 16, escaped with cuts and bruises.

The boys had been walking in woods on the outskirts of Norwich on Sunday during the start of what was to become the worst storm to hit Britain for more than a decade. They were with their sister, Jessica, aged 10, their dog and a family friend and were only 100 metres from home when Christopher saw the tree begin to fall. His unsuspecting brother was trying to put a lead on their border collie dog. Christopher pushed him clear but was killed with the dog.

His father, Jonathan Vince, 47, of Costessey, near Norwich, said: "The storm hadn't got quite up to its full strength, and they wanted to watch the leaves blow about, and thought they would go up to the conker trees.

"The wood is only 100 metres away and I was at the window thinking 'I hope they come back soon'. And then Jessica came up to the window screaming 'Chris is dead'. I just ran up the road and my wife was behind me."

Mr Vince said Ben was desperately trying to pull the heavy tree off his brother and was helped by the neighbour with the chainsaw. The body of the dog was beside him.

Mr Vince said: "He was a lovely little boy. He was tiny, handsome but with a huge personality, very mischievous and always liked a good laugh and always liked to be brave. He loved his family and animals which were the biggest love of his life."

He said he and his wife, Sandra, 43, and their children were "absolutely devastated".

Meanwhile, thousands of people were left facing the prospect of several days without power after the high winds brought down lines across large areas of the country.

Insurers faced a bill of millions of pounds and the transport network was hit by a second day of disruption. Trains in and around London were worst affected, mainly caused by storm debris on the track, while flights were delayed and cancelled.

Engineers from France were brought in to help restore power to hundreds of thousands of homes. The electricity company 24seven, which covers some of the worst affected areas, in the south Midlands and East Anglia, said about 100,000 homes were awaiting reconnection yesterday. At the worst point over the weekend, 300,000 customers were without power.

Normally, electricity customers can expect about £50 in compensation if they are without power for 18 hours and another £25 for every 12 hours after that. But companies said they were unlikely to pay out because of the exceptional nature of the conditions. Environmentalists warned that such violent weather was likely to become more common as a result of global climate change.

The sustained strong winds – which gusted at up to 96.6mph in the Mumbles, south Wales – led to the deaths of eight people, including three children. Thirty three people died across northern Europe.

A boy aged three was killed when he was struck in his pushchair in woods at Felixstowe, Suffolk. In the West Midlands, Cherry Bloor, 11, was killed and her mother and sister seriously injured when a branch crushed their car near their home in Market Drayton, Shropshire.

Eric White, 55, from Whittington, Norfolk, died after he was hit by a falling tree in his garden. Reginald Pugh, 66, died in mid-Wales when a tree fell on his car. There were other deaths in Oxford, Somerset, and Aberdeen, where an angler was swept out to sea.