Deadly storm and tidal surge batter northern Europe
Hurricane-force winds are battering
northern Europe, with the port of Hamburg at a standstill and at least three
people dead - two in the UK.
Hamburg experienced its biggest tidal surges since the early 1990s.
The city's fish market and some streets by the river Elbe have been flooded.
There was also limited flooding in the Netherlands - officials say the sea dykes withstood the onslaught. The Dutch and German authorities cancelled many flights and train services.
The Oeresund road-rail bridge, linking Copenhagen in Denmark with Malmo in southern Sweden, has reopened. It had been closed on Thursday evening amid high winds.
A woman died in Denmark after a lorry was blown over.
In Scotland a lorry driver was also killed on Thursday when his vehicle was blown over near Edinburgh. A man was crushed by a falling tree in Nottinghamshire, central England.
'Missing sailors'
The storm, called Xaver, hit northern Europe on Thursday, leaving thousands of homes without power.
Winds of up to 228km/h (142 mph) battered Scotland.
The storm has affected people across northern Europe,
including Rotterdam where those venturing outside received a buffeting.
In Scotland, a lorry driver was killed when his
vehicle blew over. 
Preparations for a tidal surge are going on across
several countries. Here, firefighters fortify an embankment in
Cuxhaven-Sahlenburg, northern Germany. England's east coast experienced its worst tidal surge in 60 years, while in north Wales residents had to be rescued by lifeboat crews.
Two sailors were reportedly swept overboard from a ship 22 km (14 miles) off the southern Swedish coast, and air-sea rescue services failed to find them.
Britain's Environment Agency said tidal surges could bring significant coastal flooding, and the Thames Barrier was being closed to protect London.
British authorities said they had evacuated homes in Great Yarmouth, eastern England, adding that it could be the biggest storm surge for 60 years.
In the low-lying Netherlands, the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier was closed off for the first time in six years. Dutch authorities said they had issued the highest possible flood warning for four areas in the north and north-west of the country.
There was some flooding in Dordrecht and Rotterdam. But rail services are generally running normally in the Netherlands, the NOS news agency reports.
In Schleswig-Holstein, north Germany, many rail services have been halted. Fallen trees are littering railway lines.
Flights cancelled
The Dutch airline KLM cancelled dozens of flights from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport on Thursday, while more than 120 were cancelled or diverted at Hamburg airport.
But Schiphol flights are now back on schedule, NOS reports.
Flights from Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports in Scotland were cancelled.
Rail travel was badly affected, with all train services in Scotland cancelled because of debris on the lines and damage to equipment. Services in northern England were also hit.
