London skies were colored: Pic courtesy | Timothy Powell, TwitterLondon: The death toll in Tropical Storm Ophelia has risen to three even as the powerful swirl continued to batter Ireland and parts of the UK with menacing force, lashing through England and Wales, moving towards Scotland.
Two people were killed in separate incidents when trees fell on their cars: a woman in her 50s in the southeast and a man on the east coast.
Another man in his 30s died while trying to clear a fallen tree, Reuters reported.
Roofs flew off houses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Electricity services are down and at least 5000 damage points have been identified so far in the storm.
The storm, downgraded from a hurricane overnight, was the worst to hit Ireland in half a century. It made landfall after 9. 40 GMT, the Irish National Meteorological Service said.
Knocking down trees and power lines and whipping up 10 meter waves, the winds are the strongest in nearly three decades.
Londoners woke up a to red sun with the winds bringing dust from the Sahara and smoke from wildfires raging across other parts of Europe.
The storm has completely stopped the air and rail traffic. Dublin airport alone witnessed cancellation of 130 flights.
While it entered Ireland, Ophelia had a murderous 119 km per hour speed, prompting comparisons with the 1987 Great Storm that killed 18 people.
Around 8000 houses in Northern Ireland and another three lakh houses in Ireland were without power following the storm.
Schools, hospitals and public transport services were closed and the armed forces were sent to bolster flood defenses.
The affected regions have been issued a rain and storm alert.
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