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Last Updated: Sunday January 18 2009 14:27 GMT

Britain battered by bad weather

A walker struggles with her brolley (Photo by Gareth Fuller/PA)

Heavy rain and severe winds of up to 100 mph caused havoc across the UK on Saturday.

Parts of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales were hit the worst.

In Northern Ireland, a 30-year-old woman was killed when a tree fell on her car, and thousands of homes were left without power.

Forecasters said there would be more outbreaks of rain on Sunday, but that the weather would become calmer in most parts of the UK.

Northern Ireland Electricity said that at one point 15,000 homes were without power.

And up to 70,000 homes were left without electricity in the Republic of Ireland.

In Scotland's Western Isles, people were told not to travel because of severe gales.

Building damage

And in west Wales, forecasters warned that the wind would be strong enough to damage buildings.