Heavy seas and high tides batter the village of Allonby in Cumbria. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA
Two people were killed, dozens were injured and thousands of residents were rescued or fled from their homes on Thursday as the UK was battered by powerful winds and seaside communities were threatened by the worst storm surge for more than 60 years.
The government's emergency Cobra committee met twice and local emergency plans swung into operation as the surge threatened to engulf areas of the east coast of England, from Northumberland to Kent plus parts of the north-west from Cumbria to Cheshire as well as communities in north Wales.
Emergency services and local authorities advised more than 15,000 people to leave their homes on the east coast of England. Some were due to spend a worrying night with relatives or in emergency rest centres, although many others refused to move, insisting they would stay to protect their properties.
By Thursday evening, more than 40 severe flood warnings – indicating danger to life – had been issued by the Environment Agency, which said the surge could be worse than in 1953 when more than 300 people died and 24,000 homes were damaged or destroyed.
However, the agency was confident that modern flood defences including the Thames and Hull barriers and more efficient warning systems meant such disaster would be averted this time.
The Met Office said the winds were calming but the danger of a storm surge would remain into Friday and snow or ice could also cause problems in the north of England and Scotland.
John Curtin, the Environment Agency's head of incident management, said: "Flooding of coastal communities along the eastern and north west coasts is expected into Friday. Some defences could be overtopped by the combined effect of high tides, high winds and a large tidal surge."
The Ministry of Defence was represented at the Cobra meetings and military personnel were standing by ready to help with the rescue effort if needed.
The high winds (a gust of 142mph was recorded over high ground in central Scotland) brought down power lines leaving tens of thousands of households without electricity in Scotland, Northern Ireland and England.
There was also misery for travellers with train services and flights cancelled or delayed. Motorists faced hazardous driving conditions and ferries were disrupted.
According to the Met Office, the problem was caused by a combination of the strong winds, low pressure and high tides. The wind was strong enough to cause water to "pile up" on to some coastlines. Low pressure associated with an Atlantic storm allowed the sea surface to rise temporarily. This combined with high tides to create the surge. Parts of the North Sea are particularly prone to storm surges partly because water flowing into the shallower southern end cannot escape quickly through the narrow Dover Strait and English Channel.
It was the wind rather than the surge that led to the two deaths. One man was killed when he was struck by a tree blown down by the gusts as he rode a mobility scooter through a park in Retford, Nottinghamshire, in the early afternoon.
Earlier, a driver died when his HGV toppled on to a number of cars in West Lothian. Four other people were treated for minor injuries.
Other motorists had lucky escapes. In Birmingham, care worker Muhammad Sial described how his car was crushed by a tree moments after he got out of it. "I just got to the front door and turned to look back and the tree had smashed my car," he said.
The wind was so strong that people were blown off their feet in some places. In Birmingham's city centre, a pedestrian was taken to hospital with serious injuries after being hit by falling glass from a window. Two people were also hurt when the roof blew off one of the huts in the city's popular German Christmas market. A few miles away in Walsall, West Midlands, neighbours had to lift a tree that had toppled on to a man. He was taken to hospital where he was treated for back and neck injuries.
There were some worrying moments for air travellers. A flight to Glasgow was forced to abort two landing attempts in Scotland before being diverted to Manchester. Passenger Hazel Bedford, a charity worker, said: "I'm feeling really lucky to be alive. An awful lot of people were being sick but the plane, it was incredibly quiet. All I could think of was my new year's resolution this year, which was to write my own will, and I haven't done it. I was absolutely terrified."
In Rhyl in north Wales, 40 residents – and six dogs – were ferried to safety by teams from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and North Wales fire and rescue service. About 400 people in all left their homes in the resort.
As the violent weather moved south from Scotland during the day, police and other emergency services were trying to evacuate thousands of residents on the east coast. They were being asked to move inland and stay with relatives if possible – and local authorities were also opening emergency shelters in leisure centres and schools. Norfolk's deputy chief constable Charlie Hall said: "We understand people may be anxious, but we would like to reassure residents that Norfolk has tried and tested flood response plans which are being put in place, in line with Environment Agency advice."
Emma Ratzer, 42, the chief executive of Access Community Trust, a homeless hostel in Lowestoft, a coastal town around 10 miles south of Great Yarmouth said: "At around 6pm, the water just came in and it continued to rise." Speaking on Thursday evening, she said: "I have just got in and it was still rising as we were coming back [from the town centre].
"In the middle of the flood, we have a 27-bed homeless hostel, a drop-in centre, plus move-on accommodation, and a brand new health and wellbeing lobby, which we have just opened. All of those are underwater.
"I have got 27 residents who are homeless at the moment, who we have had to put up in the head office.
"They were made homeless once, now they are homeless again.
"The issue will be how quickly we can turn it round. Otherwise, we are going to have 27 homeless people living in our head office. There is also sewage in that water and the entire ground floor is underwater; that it bedrooms, communal rooms and kitchens."
Karen Mitchell, who lives in Great Yarmouth, was desperate for news of what had happened to her home. She said: "I got my Environment Agency flood warning texts this morning on the way home from my night shift and went to bed as normal. I woke up to several texts from concerned family and we got a knock at about 5pm from the police advising us to leave.
"Obviously, I'm worried sick about the house as we left when advised, we are with my parents in Carlton Colville in Suffolk, as we have pets and so couldn't attend the evacuation centres.
"The only things we saw were the rising river as we left and the worrying pictures on Facebook. With the death of Mandela, the news channels are no longer interested in showing any East coast news, so I'm now worried, and frustrated. The brief local news is only showing a small part of Yarmouth, 1.5-2 miles from where I live."
Jean Thirlte, a legal officer for Norfolk County Council, wrote a public post on Facebook, which read: "For my non-Norfolk friends...an interesting night here - lots of people evacuated from coastal areas because of floods - the local high school is an overnight evacuation centre for people who've had to move out of their homes in Walcott and Bacton - the army is in Great Yarmouth building flood defences round the telephone exchange - some damage to Cromer Pier and a few seafront cafes and beach huts swept out to sea, some properties flooded but no deaths or injuries as far as I am aware."
The environment secretary, Owen Paterson, urged people to listen to the emergency services and heed their advice. He said: "These storms are dangerous. I would urge everybody to pay close attention to announcements by the Environment Agency, the department for transport and local government."
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