St. Jude's Day storm kills 3 in UK

(UPI) -- At least four people have died since a storm with gusts nearing 100 miles per hour hit the southern United Kingdom, knocking out power in thousands of homes and grounding dozens of flights before wreaking havoc in France and the Netherlands.

At 50-year-old man was killed when a tree fell on his car Watford just before 7 p.m. GMT Sunday, crumpling the car.

"It flattened it completely -- the poor chap didn't stand a chance," said Mark Joseph, a passerby who tried to assist the unnamed man. "Obviously we tried to assist, trying to get the tree off, but it was impossible."

And in Kent, a 17-year-old girl was killed when a tree came down on a temporary building next to her home around 7:20 GMT. While emergency crews responded to the scene, it was too late to save the girl, who was said to be sleeping in the caravan while renovations were done on the home.

A third person, a 14-year-old boy, was swept out to sea Sunday afternoon in East Sussex, a few hours before the storm hit the area. Coastguards said they would not be searching for the boy unless conditions changed.

And in Amsterdam, Netherlands, a woman was killed by a falling tree.

The national weather service tracked winds peaking at 99 miles per hour on the Isle of Wight, while gusts at Heathrow airport topped out at 69 miles per hour, where authorities canceled 130 flights.

The UK Energy Networks said 270,000 homes were left without power, while flood alerts were issued across southwest England and train service was disrupted as crew worked to remove fallen trees from tracks.

Forecasters said the storm had moved off into Europe.