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Watch: Cars were washed into the sea and roofs were blown off
More than 80 flood warnings remain in place across the UK in the aftermath of Storm Ciarán.
Thousands of homes were left without power, after the severe weather caused widespread flooding and damage on Thursday.
Wind gusts of more than 100mph were recorded in Jersey.
While the worst of the weather is now over, rain and strong winds are still forecast for some parts of the country on Friday.
A yellow warning of rain remains in place for north-eastern Scotland on Friday, and for south-east England on Saturday.
As well as the 88 flood warnings which are largely in place across the south of England, a further 220 flood alerts – meaning flooding in possible – stretch up through the country.
By the early hours of Friday morning, Ciarán was moving away from the UK.
Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern said: “Hopefully the worst of it is now easing at it moves away. Ciaran is moving into the North Sea. It’s weakening. It is filling but it’s still bringing quite a blustery wind to many places.”
Schools in Jersey – which saw some of Thursday’s worst weather – will remain closed for a second day on Friday and aim to reopen on Monday.
Schools on the neighbouring islands of Guernsey and Alderney will reopen on Friday.
Jersey’s airport will also remain closed to commercial flights until at least early after on Friday due to storm damage.
Dozens of people on the island were evacuated to hotels overnight on Wednesday and locals were also hit by huge hailstones “bigger than golf balls”.
The Met Office described the Channel Islands as having endured “supercell thunderstorms”, where locals faced frequent lightning, large hailstones and a possible hurricane.
A clip from the St Clement in Jersey showed Jessica O’Reilly sleeping in bed alongside her baby when the sound of the “weather bomb” woke her – seconds before the window was blown inwards.
Watch: Woman wakes up to window being blown in
She described the moment her “motherly instinct” kicked in, telling the BBC: “We went up to bed and could hear the wind getting stronger and stronger, closer and closer.
“Something didn’t seem right, then the windows just smashed in, I grabbed [my daughter] and got out the room.
“I think I just thought ‘my baby’s in danger, I need to get out’ and ran down the stairs.”
Student Kate Marsh told the BBC she was woken at 05:30 GMT when the roof of her bedroom in Falmouth, Cornwall, entirely blew off and collapsed onto her.
In Northern Ireland, a flooding recovery operation is under way in Newry and Newcastle while an emergency response continues in Downpatrick, Co Down.
The Department for Infrastructure said it did not expected to be able to work to reduce the floodwater in Downpatrick until Friday, when river levels have dropped. A spokesperson for the department said rivers in some areas had reached record levels and remained very high. The damage caused by flooding in Downpatrick has “ripped the heart out of the town”, a local businessman told the BBC.
In Wales, a caravan park evacuated residents following a warning that flooding could pose a risk to life.
Elsewhere across the British Isles, roofs were blown off homes, some train lines completely ground to a halt and there were long queues around the Port of Dover, which shut earlier amid rough seas.
Several countries across Europe have also been badly hit. Seven people died in France, Madrid, Belgium and the Netherlands, including a five-year-old boy who was killed by a falling branch in the Belgian town of Ghent.
The president of Tuscany, Eugenio Giani, said that three people lost their lives as a result of the intense and that several hospitals were flooded.
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