SIX people, including three children, were killed by falling trees and debris yesterday as wind gusts of almost 100mph caused chaos across Britain and an estimated £50m of damage.

In the North-East, lifeboat crews had to risk their lives to rescue amateur sailors who had opted to go ahead with a race, despite the severe weather warnings.

Fallen trees and power lines made travel treacherous across much of the country, with police issuing warnings not to travel unless it was essential.

Hundreds of North-East passengers were left stranded in London and Scotland as GNER cancelled all East-coast mainline services all day, except between Newcastle and Doncaster. And air passengers were stuck at Amsterdam and Heathrow Airport as flights into North-East airports were cancelled due to high winds elsewhere.

Police said many motorists had heeded warnings to stay indoors.

But there was criticism of amateur yachtsmen from Hartlepool who set out on a race yesterday morning after warnings of the impending storm.

Neil Marson, honorary secretary of Teesmouth life-boat, said one sailor on a 24ft yatcht had lost control of his sails, a mile north of the Tees estuary. With winds threatening to beach the craft, he had no alternative but to issue a mayday.

As the lifeboat towed the yacht to safety the crew came across another craft with three crew taking part in the same race.

Eventually, both yachts were taken to a safe mooring berth near the Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge.

Mr Marson said: "Although the weather wasn't too bad first thing in the morning, given the severe weather warnings, it perhaps would have been prudent not to go ahead with the race."

Elsewhere, rail and air services were expected to be back to normal this morning as the weather improves.

The region escaped the worst of Britain's storms, but in Loftus, East Cleveland, winds of 50mph were reported by the PA Weather Centre.

And the North-East received more than a tenth of its average October rainfall in only six hours.

The Environment Agency issued flood warnings on the riverside footpaths next to the Ouse, in York, and on Lustrum Beck in Hartburn, Stockton.

In separate tragedies in Norfolk and Suffolk yesterday, two boys, one aged 12 and the other about five, were struck on the head by falling trees and killed.

Also in East Anglia, a middle-aged man was hit by a falling tree in his back garden and died en route to hospital.

In Shropshire, a 14-year-old girl was killed and her mother and sister seriously injured when a large branch crushed their car.

In mid-Wales, a man died when a tree hit the roof of his car, and in Oxford, a 22-year-old woman was killed and her two sisters, aged nine and 13, injured when a tree fell on their silver people carrier.

A new Royal Navy warship, HMS St Albans, was hit by a car ferry carrying nearly 1,000 people, as it tried to dock at Portsmouth.

The Association of British Insurers has estimated the total cost to the insurance industry would be about £50m.

The forecast is for the weather to improve today.

The storms brought more deaths as they spread across Europe. Two died in Holland, two in northern Germany, four in northern France and another in Switzerland.

Two people were blown into the North Sea and are believed drowned, while in Belgium the winds fatally slammed a rollerskater aged 13 into a truck and a roofer died falling from a ladder.