One person has died as winds of up to 142mph battered parts of the UK, causing travel chaos and leaving 100,000 homes without power.

The lorry driver was killed when the HGV he was driving was blown on top of two cars on the A801 near Bathgate, West Lothian, with four others injured in the accident.

The Thames Barrier will be closed from 10pm to protect London from a combined tidal surge and high tide in the Thames estuary.

Elsewhere, homes in Norfolk and Essex are being evacuated after officials warned the lives of people in the region could be at risk from the worst coastal tidal surge for more than 60 years.

Prime Minister David Cameron said a meeting of the Government’s Cobra emergency response committee had been called to discuss how to combat the extreme conditions.

Motorists have been warned not to travel due to “extremely dangerous” road conditions and Scotland’s entire rail network has been suspended.

Network Rail said debris on the lines and damage to equipment meant it was not safe to operate any services, with trains halted at their nearest stations and passengers advised to disembark.

Spokesman Nick King said: “The weather conditions are such that we are having to bring the network to a standstill at the moment.

“There’s too much debris and too much damage to equipment to continue. We cannot continue to run trains with the levels of wind we are seeing.”

Travellers have faced severe disruption across the country – while huge tidal surges over the next 48 hours are expected to see water levels breach sea defences along the east coast of England and cause devastating floods.

As winds got stronger – with gusts of 142mph recorded in the Highlands – Network Rail Scotland said Glasgow Central station had been evacuated “due to debris smashing glass in the roof”, although no injuries were reported.

Flights are being cancelled at Edinburgh Airport due to the high winds, which have also prompted the closure of the Forth Road Bridge.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has 11 flood warnings and 13 flood alerts in place, most of them for the north and east of the country.

Police Scotland warned that conditions would be “extremely poor” throughout the morning and advised motorists to take care.

An overturned lorry blocking the Friarton Bridge in Perth was causing major delays, and motorists were urged to avoid driving in the south, west, central belt and South Perthshire regions of Scotland.

The strongest gusts have been recorded on the slopes of Aonach Mor, where the Met Office said winds had reached speeds of 142mph.

Meanwhile, the rest of Scotland and northern parts of England are being lashed by severe gales of between 60mph and 80mph.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said it was responding to numerous calls relating to fallen trees and road blockages.

And a spokeswoman for Scottish Hydro said its staff were working to restore power to the 100,000 homes affected by cuts, many of them in the Highlands.

The company said around 500 staff are working to fix the faults, including extra engineers drafted in from England.

In England and Wales, a total of 27 severe flood warnings – meaning there is a danger to life – have been issued by the Environment Agency (EA), 24 of them for the Anglian region.

Areas most at risk include the North Sea coast from Northumberland down to the Thames Estuary and Kent. At present, there are more than 130 flood warnings – indicating “immediate action required” – and 60 flood alerts in place.

In some places, sea levels could be as high as those during the the devastating floods of 1953, the EA said, although flood  defences since then, including the Thames, Deptford and Hull barriers, should provide better protection than 60 years ago.

EA spokesman Peter Fox said 3,000 properties were expected to suffer from flooding in the next 24 hours.

“The most important thing is that along the east coast (of England) the high tide will be hitting in the hours of darkness this evening and tonight, so people really need to take the daylight hours today to prepare for the coastal and tidal flooding that we are predicting,” he said.

Northern Ireland has seen gusts of up to 70mph , with flying debris and high winds leaving around 7,000 properties without electricity.

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Watch Video Forth Road Bridge Wind

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