Pictures from around country reveal flooding and uprooted trees as the Met Office warns of “danger to life from large waves or beach material being thrown.”

Winds of up to 80mph swept across exposed UK coastlines as well as gales exceeding 60 mph inland.

The Met Office tweeted: “Some people are being woken up by strong #winds, #thunder and #hail tonight as #StormEleanor sweeps across the UK.

“The centre of #StormEleanor is now moving out into the North Sea, but it will remain very windy in many areas. Yellow warnings remain in force.”

Part of the M25 was closed last night after a large tree fell on to the London ring-road between junctions 17 and 18.

Pictures from Ireland – which was battered earlier by the storm – show emergency services trying to push a partially submerged car to safety.

In Wales, huge waves were captured crashing piers and leaping over sea wall defences.

Satellite images show the UK being smothered by cloud while footage shared on social media records blustering rain, howling winds and hail hitting Birmingham and Coventry.

A yellow warning remains in place until 6pm for most of the UK as storm Eleanor tracks east.

The Met Office said: “Storm Eleanor to bring very strong winds later Tuesday, continuing overnight and on Wednesday.

“The warning has been adjusted to bring the northern boundary southwards, and to combine with the warning previously in force for Wednesday.

“Public transport may be disrupted or canceled and some bridges are likely to be closed. Power cuts and disruption to other services (mobile phones for example) may also occur, while injuries from flying debris are possible.

“Combined with a period of high tides, it is likely that some western coastal communities will be affected by large waves and spray, and again there is a chance that injuries and danger to life could occur from large waves, or beach material being thrown on to seafronts and coastal properties.”

Scores of roads across the UK have been closed due to fallen trees and dangerous winds.

The A14 is currently closed in both directions between J56 and J57 due to high winds being experienced on Suffolk’s iconic Orwell Bridge.

The Dartford Tunnels’, east tunnel will remain closed through the morning, according to Highways England.

The travel authority also warns that there is a high possibility of the QEII Bridge needing to be closed because of strong winds.

An overturned vehicle closed all lanes on the A1M northbound entry slip at junction J4 earlier but the incident has since been cleared.

However, several lanes on the M5 northbound between junctions J9 and J8 have been closed due to an accident involving an overturned vehicle.