UK storms: Coastal areas in west hit by renewed gales

Gales are continuing to batter southern parts of the UK, with coastal areas hit by winds and rain.

Gusts reached 80mph on the coasts of Cornwall, the Bristol Channel and west Wales, and the Environment Agency has warned of the risk of further floods.

Police say flooding may be a factor in the death of a boy who was taken ill at a house in Chertsey, Surrey.

A landslip at Crewkerne in Somerset means all rail routes into the South West are now blocked.

First Great Western said the landslip meant there were no services running between Castle Cary and Exeter and replacement buses were in operation.

Routes into the West Country via Bridgwater and Yeovil were already blocked because of flooding.

In Dawlish, where a key line between Devon and Cornwall was destroyed by waves on Tuesday, concrete has been sprayed onto the cliff behind the track to make the area safer in the face of continuing high winds and large waves.

Network Rail said work at the site was "progressing well" in six-hour shifts in between high tides.

Meanwhile, the village of Moorland in Somerset, where about 80 homes were evacuated after the local water level rose by about one metre overnight on Thursday, breaching temporary flood defences in the early hours of Friday, is among three areas subject to severe flood warnings.

In other developments:

• A seven-year-old boy has died and 17 people have been taken to hospital after police attended an incident at Thameside, Chertsey, with officers saying they say could not rule out a link to flooding
• Coastguards in Devon said they wereexpecting "phenomenal" waves about 12 miles offshore, possibly reaching 45ft (14m) in height
• In Birmingham an elderly woman was taken to hospital with serious injuries after a tree fell on to a car in Yardley
• The Environment Agency is moving more staff from north-west England to flood-hit areas further south
• Flybe is increasing its number of weekday flights between Gatwick and Newquay in Cornwall to six from three
• Rail operator First Great Western has put in place special ticketing arrangements so that passengers affected by flood disruption can buy cheaper advance fares while revised timetables are put in place
• On the M25, two of four lanes were closed clockwise between Junction 16 and 17 because of flooding
• In the same area, link roads from the M40 onto the M25 clockwise were closed as flooding spread from surrounding fields onto the carriageway. The Highways Agency said normal traffic conditions should be restored on Sunday
• Fire crews are dealing with rising floodwater which is threatening an important electricity substation near Reading. They are bringing in a high-volume pump from Hertfordshire because Berkshire's pump is being used in Somerset. The substation is thought to serve about 40,000 homes and businesses
• Communities Secretary Eric Pickles, who chaired a meeting of the government's Cobra emergency committee earlier, said it was looking closely at the South West where a storm was gathering to make sure pumping could start at the right time. He also said preparations were being made to protect water and electrical plants, and transport infrastructure in the Thames Valley area where water levels are expected to rise again next week
• The Ministry of Defence has put 1,500 personnel on notice to help with the aftermath of flooding in southern England if needed

The Conservative MP for Bridgwater and West Somerset, Ian Liddell-Grainger, said river levels in his constituency remained "enormously high" and people there were "having to batten down again to prepare for the next storm".