Storm Ciarán bodyboarders defy RNLI safety warnings to ride perilous waves
Nerve wracking footage shows bodyboarders taking to the waves on the south west coast of England - despite warnings from the RNLI as Storm Ciaran continues to batter the UK and Europe.
Gusts of more than 100mph have left thousands of homes without power, forced school closures and caused travel chaos after the deadly weather system battered the south of England and the Channel Islands. The storm has now made landfall in mainland Europe, killing at least five people in Germany, France, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands.
Damage to properties on Jersey meant some had to evacuate their homes and seek refuge in a hotel, with one woman saying hailstones "bigger than a golf ball" had broken her windows. There were amber warnings for strong winds from the Met Office in place today for the south of England as well as other alerts across the country.
For regular updates around Storm Ciarán, use Mirror's live blog here.
Bodyboards in the sea in Exmouth (DevonLive/ Jody Pell)
They ignored advice from the RNLI (DevonLive/ Jody Pell)But still, some thrill seekers decided to ignore the advice and were filmed riding huge waves in Devon. The clip, captured by Jody Pell, shows the group of bodyboards struggling against the tide as they try to tackle the crashing waves.
Met Office says UK will be battered by monster rain storm with 4 inches falling
It comes as Exmouth RNLI had told people to "keep a safe distance away from the water" due to the stormy conditions, reported DevonLive.
It stated on Facebook: "With Storm Ciarán approaching, high winds / tides and heavy rain are likely. Please keep a safe distance away from the water as you could get knocked over or washed into the sea. If you see someone in danger in the water, call 999 / 112 & ask for the Coastguard.
"Remember if you have to go out: Stay well back from stormy seas and cliff edges. Check tide times before you go. Take a phone with you. In an emergency call 999 or 112 and ask for the Coast Guard."
The RNLI also posted footage on social media of an adult and child being hit by waves as they walked along the seafront at Dawlish. It states: "This video was taken at Dawlish a few days ago of an adult and child walking along the seafront in extremely hazardous conditions. Video thanks to Jess Hayes."
In Cornwall the council said nearly 10,000 homes in the county had been without power because of the storm, adding that strong winds and large waves would make coastlines particularly dangerous.
Waves hitting the Cobb at Lyme Regis, Dorset (Paul Silvers/SWNS)The Cornwall councillor in charge of environment and public protection, Martyn Alvey, said the storm had led to a "significant event" in the region that had left its highways teams dealing with about 180 reports of fallen trees, debris and blocked drains.
He said: "The two biggest challenges have been outages and debris causing road blockage - and at one point there were over 10,000 properties that were out of power and now, as it approached lunchtime, we are down to about 6,500.
We are working with National Grid to help some vulnerable residents who might be impacted as it is forecast that some of them will not have their power restored until the morning." He added: "For people in their homes, particularly those who had lost power, it would have been a fairly traumatic experience."
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