Winds of more than 80mph brought down trees and damaged houses as a severe storm battered Britain.

Travellers faced delays and thousands of people in the West Country and South Wales woke to find they were without electricity after falling trees crashed through power lines.

A tanker with 13 crew on board was in trouble off the Isle of Wight as the storms whipped up the waters around the coasts.

Police warned travellers to use "extreme caution" amid fears of heavy delays.

The gales were expected to last for much of the day with further bad weather over the next 48 hours. The highest recorded wind speed so far was 82mph at Berry Head in Brixham, south Devon.

Winds were gusting up to gale force nine in the English Channel, a Port of Dover spokeswoman said. The Port of Dover was closed to all shipping movements as hurricane-force winds buffeted the coast, a spokesman said.

He said: "We've got wind speeds of about 80mph at the moment. Our advice to travellers is for people to check with their ferry companies before setting off because it's unlikely that anything will be going out for some time."

Driving winds and snow caused treacherous conditions on the A66 between Co Durham and Cumbria. Lorries sheltered at the side of the Trans-Pennine route to avoid being toppled by the gusts.

Snow ploughs were out to keep the road open, as blizzards swept across the road.

The Environment Agency currently has seven severe flood warnings in force, 48 flood warnings and 53 flood watches

An Australian magazine has apologised for publishing a story revealing that Prince Harry was fighting with British troops in Afghanistan, eventually resulting in him being sent home.

New Idea said it was unaware of a media embargo about the Prince's mission when it ran the story in January. The report went largely unnoticed until February when the Drudge Report cited the magazine and a German publication with running the news.

The story was widely reported after the Drudge Report posting, and British officials decided to pull Harry out of Afghanistan for his safety and that of his unit.

In an unsigned item in its latest edition, New Idea did not explain the source of its January story and indicated that it did not check with British military officials before publishing.

"We did not knowingly breach any embargo and were not party to any agreement for a media blackout on the story," the magazine said.

"However, and more importantly, we do acknowledge that our actions in publishing the story can be reasonably viewed as insensitive and irresponsible... We regret this serious lapse of judgment."

The magazine apologised to its readers and to troops and their families who serve abroad.

Harry spent almost 10 weeks in Afghanistan's volatile Helmand Province, with his deployment kept secret by a deal between officials and British and media.

New Idea is a celebrity and lifestyle magazine with a monthly circulation of about 390,000 copies.