A 'TORNADO' ripped trees from the ground as fierce winds and heavy rain lashed the UK today with more than 100 flood alerts issued.
Wet and windy conditions have continued to batter Brits with yellow weather warnings extended by the Met Office.
The Met Office has issued a yellow warning of heavy rain and strong winds for Wales and the South West of England in effect from 10am to 7pm today.
There could be 10-22mm of rain, with 40-50mph gusts inland, rising to 60-70mph on exposed coasts, according to the weather service.
It comes after local reports of a "mini-tornado" which ripped up trees in Powys, Wales, closing the A470.
The A470 between Builth Wells and Erwood will not reopen before Thursday afternoon, according to Powys Council.
The Met Office said that it is possible there could have been a mini-tornado in the area but could not confirm it.
A Met Office spokesman said: "The only way we would be able to confirm it is a tornado is with any video or photography of it actually taking place.
"It is hard to confirm without any visual evidence. However, it could definitely be a possibility because of the conditions over the last 24 hours and today.
"These are the sort of conditions you could expect to see a 'mini-tornado' in.
"It sounds unusual for the UK but we get around 45 tornados in the country every year although these are much weaker than people think."
The council will assess when it is safe to reopen the seafront later on Thursday.
Meanwhile, a coastal road was closed after the sea "drowned'' it today and a rail line linking London with the West Country was hit by a landslide.
Nearly 700 homes were blacked out near Ilminster, Somerset, and another 90 had no electricity at Saltash, Cornwall.
The road which "sank" was on Guernsey – cops closed a mile-long stretch between Perelle Garage and L'Eree Aerodrome because pounding waves submerged it and they feared cars would be washed into the sea.
Torrential rain saw tons of soaked soil slide down the embankment and block the Axminster to Exeter railway line near Honiton.
It has re-opened but trains are having to crawl along with a 20mph speed limit.
And Network Rail said it will have to shut this weekend with a full line closure so the earth can be cleared off the tracks.
The Met Office added that in some areas, bus and train services will probably be affected with journey times taking longer.
The weather service have also issued a yellow wind warning for Wales running from 7pm today til the end of the day.
It said there will be a "brief spell of heavy rain and squally winds perhaps causing some transport disruption and flooding".
The weather service warned: "A brief spell of heavy rain and strong, gusty winds perhaps causing some transport disruption and flooding.
"A narrow band of rain, heavy at times and perhaps briefly intense, will move eastwards late on Thursday morning and into the afternoon, clearing Kent during the evening.
"Ten to 15mm is likely to fall in a one-to-two-hour period, with around 20mm in a few places."
It continued: "With saturated ground, this is likely to lead to a fair amount of surface water on roads and flooding in one or two places.
"Strong winds will be an additional hazard with gusts of 40 to 50 mph inland and perhaps briefly 60 to 70mph along some exposed coasts, especially in Cornwall, Pembrokeshire, Gwynedd and Anglesey."
Strong winds could also hit parts of Northern Ireland, including Belfast, Newry, Londonderry and Omagh from 8am to 2pm on Thursday.
The Met Office has forecasted the showers to ease on Friday but with strong winds and rain moving in from the west through Saturday that will gradually clear from the northwest during Sunday.
However, there is some good news with conditions expected to become mild this weekend.
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