Hurricane force winds battered parts of Europe, killing at least 27 people and triggering a dramatic air-sea rescue from a sinking cargo ship in the English Channel.
The storms brought torrential rains and winds gusting at close to 170 km/ph to areas of southern Britain, northern France, the Netherlands, Germany and the Czech Republic.
Falling trees and pylons claimed the lives of seven motorists, including the managing director of central England's Birmingham airport, killed when a branch fell on his car as he was driving to work.
In all, 10 people were killed in storm-related accidents in England, seven in Germany, five in the Netherlands, three in the Czech Republic and two in France. Many of the deaths were due to traffic accidents and falling debris.
Meteorologists at London's Met Office said the winds reached 'severe gale force' as they crossed Britain and were the highest recorded since January 1990.
But they warned that the system would intensify as it headed east across the continent. Winds of almost 170 km/ph were recorded later in Germany.
In Munich, an 18-month-old baby was crushed to death by a door that was torn off its hinges, while a 73-year-old man was killed after a barn door fell on him in Bavaria.
In the southern Dutch town of Riel, an 11-year-old boy died after he was hit by a car, whose driver said the child was blown into the car by a sudden gust of wind.
A pensioner was crushed when a wall collapsed on her near Stockport in northwest England, while a man was killed after being blown into a metal shutter at an industrial estate in Manchester.
In the Czech Republic, a fireman was killed by a falling tree, while two youths were crushed when a tree fell on their car on the outskirts of the capital Prague.
The high winds caused chaos across the country, cutting power lines and disrupting transport with forecasters warning of worse in store during the night.
In the English Channel, 26 crew who abandoned their sinking freighter were airlifted to safety in a daring joint French-British operation launched in hazardous conditions.
The storms also forced the suspension of cross-channel ferry services between the English port of Dover and France and caused chaos to road and rail transport in England.
And snow fell in southern California, as Americans coped with a deadly cold snap that has left hundreds of thousands in the dark and caused billions in crop damage.
More than 60 deaths across nine states were blamed on the harsh weather, mostly in car accidents as drivers lost control of their vehicles on icy roads.
A layer of snow yesterday blanketed hills in Malibu, and snow also fell on parts of metropolitan Los Angeles.
