Man blown into path of taxi in Blackpool and thousands left without power in Wales as storms batter Britain's coast

Storms yesterday left 10,000 homes and businesses without power

Aberystwyth was bombarded with high-winds overnight. (Rob Parker (@rfdparker))

A man was in hospital in a serious condition today after being blown into the path of a taxi during high winds on Blackpool promenade, Lancashire Constabulary said.

Firefighters used airbags to life the vehicle off the man and Blackpool promenade was closed for a number of hours during high-tide. It has since reopened.

Elsewhere, in Wales storms yesterday left 10,000 homes and businesses without power after gusts of up to 89mph (143kph) brought down trees and power lines.

Today some 100 homes were still without power.

The highest wind speed was 89mph recorded at Mumbles head near Swansea at 16:00 GMT. The M4 motorway was also closed for two hours between Margam and Pyle after a caravan overturned.

Pictures on social media last night showed the promenade at Aberystwyth being battered by high winds and heavy rain.

Last Sunday and Monday's powerful St Jude storm was the worst in 26 years and killed five people.

Meanwhile, last month was one of the mildest Octobers on record.

Gemma Plumb, another forecaster with MeteoGroup, said the new month will bring "drier and chillier weather as would be expected in November", after October was confirmed as the mildest the UK has seen since 2006.

The south west, south Wales and Midlands saw the highest above average temperatures, at 1.5C warmer than is usual for the month.

But although it was milder than usual, it was also the least sunny October since 2005 and the wettest in England and Wales since 2000, Ms Plumb said.