Winds gusted up to 99 mph in exposed parts of the country with heavy rain, while snow fell across much of Scotland.

Rescue services winched 13 sailors to safety and were battling to pick up 13 more forced to abandon their container ship after it began sinking in stormy seas in the Channel. 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.

West Mercia police said one motorist had been killed on the B4373 near Bridgnorth near Shropshire just before 6 a.m.

“It’s not yet known if his car was in collision with the fallen tree or whether the tree actually fell on the vehicle,” a police spokesman said.

He said there had been violent storms in the area overnight and that severe conditions were expected to continue. “The driving conditions this morning were atrocious. There have been numerous reports of roads affected by flash floods and of trees having fallen across roads,” he said.

A second driver died after his lorry left overturned on the A629 road near Skipton in North Yorkshire with high winds thought to be responsible.

The Highways Agency warned motorists to take extra care, to slow down in bad weather and keep greater distances from other vehicles.

The third fatality occurred in Stockport near Manchester when a woman in her 60s died after a wall collapsed due to the high winds.

Greater Manchester Police said the incident occurred at around lunchtime as the woman was passing the wall.

Flights were disrupted at many airports. At London’s Heathrow more than 100 European and domestic flights were canceled.

Up to 25,000 homes across southeast England were without power after falling trees and flying debris brought down electricity cables, supplier Southern Electric said.

In Germany, winds of 120 kilometers (75 miles) per hour were ripping through western and central regions as the storm moved eastwards.

Meteorologists said the storm was shaping up to be the worst to hit Germany in four or five years and authorities warned people only to go outside in exceptional circumstances.

The storm was causing heavy rain throughout Germany and the combination of that and high winds led to flight cancellations at Frankfurt airport, Germany’s busiest, a spokesman for its operators Fraport said.

At least 17 flights had been canceled by 1000 GMT.

Authorities told Germans to stay indoors in the afternoon and not to park their cars under trees or near the sea because of the risk of severe flooding along the coast.

Winds could reach speeds of up to 150 kph (93 mph) near the sea and in mountain regions, the national weather bureau in Offenbach said.

The head of the German rescue services (THW), Albrecht Broemme, said tens of thousands of emergency workers were on standby.

“If this hits all of Germany, things could become pretty bad,” he said.

Northern France was also being lashed by rain and winds gusting up to 140 kph (87 mph), creating perilous conditions for motorists and pedestrians, the national weather service said.

Meteorologists said France would feel the brunt of the storms in the afternoon and late evening.

In Paris — where a man was killed last month when strong winds ripped a heavy billboard from a shopfront — all parks, gardens and cemeteries were closed as a precaution until the end of the violent weather.

In Italy, meanwhile, 80 flights were canceled early Thursday at Rome’s main Fiumicino airport because of fog, the airport news agency Telenews reported.

Flights to or from Brussels, Casablanca, Paris, Nice, Munich, Florence, Venice and Amsterdam were among the 38 departing and 42 arriving flights canceled, the report said.

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