Storm Darragh’s path of destruction: 22 individuals are stranded in forest in a single day, 118,000 houses nonetheless with out energy and commuters face extra rail chaos as enormous clear-up will get underway

Storm Darragh has left a trail of destruction after 96mph winds crushed cars, wrecked homes and uprooted trees over the weekend.

A national clean-up operation is underway after the deadly storm battered Britain, claiming the lives of two men when trees smashed through their vehicles.

In North Yorkshire, 22 people including a two-year-old child were stuck in 8,000-acre Dalby Forest, near Pickering, on Saturday night.

Finding their exit blocked by fallen trees, the group were forced to seek refuge in local homes and the café before rescuers were able to reach them.

On Monday, more than 118,000 homes were still without power after gale-force winds sparked huge outages across the UK.

There are 45 flood warnings and 145 alerts in place across England today. Natural Resources Wales had 14 alerts and two warnings active.

Meanwhile, commuters face rail chaos in parts of England and Wales, with several lines closed due to fallen trees and debris. 

But Britain will now get some respite with more settled and cooler temperatures, according to the Met Office.

Winds will gradually ease today with much less rainfall by Wednesday although temperatures will be cold with highs of just 9C (48F) this week, forecasters say.

A return to calmer weather comes after the fourth named storm of the season hit the UK with a rare red Met Office warning issued – and millions of people told to stay indoors.

A top gust of 96mph struck Berry Head in Devon, with the storm having its greatest impact on Wales and South West England where a red warning was in place.

Temperatures fell to -5C (23C) this morning in Tyndrum, Stirling – and highs of 8C (46F) are expected later. The weekend maximum was 10.4C (50.7F) in Cornwall.

At Dalby Forest, Andy Widdowson, head of recreation in Yorkshire for Forestry England, who co-ordinated the response, confirmed everyone was safe.

He told BBC News: ‘The power was out in the district but everyone had blankets and we broke out our emergency supplies. In the end everyone was fine and we eventually evacuated this morning all safely.

‘In situations like this we all work together. The residents were super kind in bringing supplies over – even to the point of bringing porridge over this morning, supplying bedding and where possible they opened their doors and welcomed people in, which is utterly amazing and we thank them very much.’

The forest and village were still without power yesterday afternoon and Dalby Forest was closed to visitors. MailOnline has contacted Forestry England for an update.

On the trains today, Great Western Railway said passengers should ‘not attempt to travel’ between Swansea and Carmarthen until at least noon, or on the Looe, St Ives and Gunnislake branch lines in Cornwall until at least 11am.

The Barnstaple and Okehampton branch lines in Devon were expected to be open by 8am following safety checks.

Meanwhile Westbury and Chippenham stations in Wiltshire reopened following storm damage, and services had resumed on the Falmouth branch line in Cornwall.

GWR said passengers who choose not to travel today can claim a full refund on their ticket or travel on Tuesday.

Damage caused by the storm also means the railway line between Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent remains closed.

This was affecting London Northwestern Railway services between Stafford and Crewe, and CrossCountry trains connecting Manchester Piccadilly with stations such as Paignton, Bournemouth, Southampton Central, Bristol Temple Meads and Birmingham New Street.

London Northwestern Railway passengers could use rail replacement transport between Wolverhampton and Crewe.

Affected CrossCountry services were being diverted via Crewe and did not call at Stoke-on-Trent or Macclesfield. 

Rail replacement transport was operating between Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent.

Transport for Wales said all railway lines are blocked on 11 routes, such as between Swansea and Milford Haven, between Swansea and Shrewsbury, between Birmingham International and Shrewsbury, and between Chester and Holyhead.

Following major disruption from the storm over the weekend, National Rail Enquiries warned ‘services may be busier than normal today and experience severe overcrowding’.

West Midlands Railway was unable to operate on the line serving Bromsgrove, Redditch, Birmingham New Street and Lichfield Trent Valley because of damage to overhead electric wires.

Passengers were also warned to expect cancellations and delays to train services on the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Scotland early today.

Network Rail said this was because it had to complete repairs to overhead line equipment in Polesworth, Warwickshire. Services were being diverted via Birmingham while the work took place.

Chris Baughan, Network Rail’s West Coast South route operations manager, said: ‘Storm Darragh has wreaked havoc on the railway this weekend and we are very sorry to passengers for the disruption to train services this morning on the West Coast Main Line as frontline teams continue with emergency repairs and the clean-up.

‘Our engineers are working as fast as we can to stabilise a critical piece of the overhead line equipment in Polesworth.

‘We are asking passengers to check before they travel as some morning journeys between London, the West Midlands, the North West and Scotland may take longer or have altered timetables.’

Looking ahead, Met Office meteorologist Liam Eslick said: ‘Storm Darragh has now moved its way off towards the South East, so things are going to start to settle down over the next couple of days.

‘But it is still going to remain quite blustery, especially for South and South East of England, for the next day at least.’

Cloud towards the South East will bring the chance of localised, potentially heavy showers but these should move through quickly, he added.

Much of the rest of the country further north will see calmer winds and plenty of sunshine due to an area of high pressure moving in, but will feel chilly with highs in the mid to low single figures.

Any remaining winds will die down by tomorrow, with the exception of areas around the English Channel and southern coast.

There will again be longer sunny spells developing in northern parts of the country while cloud will settle across Wales and southern England, but temperatures will widely remain low. 

Some widespread fog will develop under clear skies in the north overnight into Wednesday morning and could be slow to clear.

More breaks in the persistent cloud cover for southern areas on Wednesday will lead to sunnier spells through the afternoon, and a much drier day nationally, with only East Anglia at risk of some light showers, Mr Eslick said.

The first victim of Storm Darragh, who was killed after a tree fell on to his van in Lancashire, was named locally as football coach Paul Fiddler.

Mr Fiddler, who was in his 40s, was driving his Citroen vehicle on the A59 at Longton, near Preston, at about 9am on Saturday. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

West Midlands Police said a second man died when a tree fell and hit his car in the Erdington area of Birmingham on Saturday just after 4pm. He has not yet been named.

Separately, Dorset Police were working to identify the remains of a man whose body was found on Worth Mattravers beach near Swanage during the storm at 11am yesterday.

* Were you stuck in Dalby Forest? Please email: [email protected] *