UK weather: Windy weather batters Britain overnight with storms set to cause travel chaos right up to the Easter weekend

Trees felled on railway lines and 'chaos' on the road

A man photographs waves on Porthcawl Beach in South Wales, as gale force winds and torrential rain sweep across Britain (PA)

After a night of stormy weather that blocked railway lines, felled trees and closed high bridges, Britain was forecast for a day of strong winds and more travel chaos on Tuesday.

Parts of north Wales, the Bristol Channel and East Anglia saw winds of up to 70mph overnight, and two sailors had to be rescued from the water off the coast near Southampton after their vessel capsized and sank in the stormy weather.

The M25 was closed at the Dartford Crossing, trees on lines led to rail delays in Devon, Somerset, Wiltshire and Hampshire, and Cheshire Police tweeted overnight that high winds and rain had been “creating chaos on the roads”.

One of the most dramatic incidents put down to the high winds was an incident outside a private outpatients hospital in Tooley Street, London, where a window fell five storeys and hit a woman on the head.

According to BBC News, a witness walking just behind the woman said there was a "massive crash". The woman suffered a "nasty gash across the width of the head" and had her teeth "smashed in", the witness said, the police said the injuries were not life threatening.

The Met Office’s severe weather warnings for wind continued into Tuesday morning, and forecaster Kirk Waite said: “While the winds should gradually ease, it's going to stay a pretty windy day.”

He said; “There could potentially be some quite difficult conditions throughout the course of the morning for those getting up and heading out to work.

“The north west of the country is going to see some quite blustery showers moving in - it's probably going to see the strongest winds today.”

As well as causing the closure of the QE11 bridge on the M25, the strong winds also meant the closure of the Ouse Bridge on the M62 and the M48 Severn Bridge.

There were also long delays on the M5 southbound near Worcester due to an accident.

It all made for a blustering end to March, encapsulated on Sunday by the flattening of the famous Lord’s cricket ground weather vane in London.

Photo provided by the MCC of the famous weather vane at Lord's, Father Time, which has been damaged during high winds (PA)

But looking forward to the long Easter weekend, Mr Waite said the weather will be breezy to begin with but things should “gradually quieten down” towards Sunday.