Body of unidentified man found on a beach after Storm Darragh hit the UK

A body has washed up on a beach in Dorset after Storm Darragh swept through the UK and left a trail of destruction in its wake.

The body, which is of an unidentified man, was spotted on the beach at Worth Matravers, near Swanage, Dorset, yesterday morning at around 11am.

It is thought that the man is the third person to have died during the storm after a football coach was killed when a tree fell on his car in Lancashire and another man, who has not been named, was killed after a tree crushed his car in Edington.

Police said they were called to the scene just after 11.30am yesterday. The man’s body was carried away from the beach by medics, with a post-mortem examination to be carried out over the next few days to determine the cause of his death.

His death is not being treated as suspicious.

A spokesman for Dorset police said: ‘Officers are investigating the identity of the man and the circumstances surrounding his death, which is currently being treated as unexplained.

‘We received a report at 11.37am today (Sunday) that a body had been found on the beach in the Chapman’s Pool area of Worth Matravers, Swanage.

‘Officers responded alongside HM Coastguard and the ambulance service, and a cordon was put in place to allow emergency services to respond to the incident.

‘The death is being treated as unexplained and the body has been recovered.

‘Inquiries will now take place on behalf of the Dorset coroner to establish the identity of the man and the circumstances surrounding his death.’

The fourth named storm of the season brought major destruction last week, with strong gusts and heavy rain leading to tens of thousands of people still without electricity on Monday morning.

A rugby club in Wales had its roof torn off by gale-force winds, while North Yorkshire Police are searching for an 85-year-old man who was last seen going to the shops on Saturday.

Commuters have meanwhile been warned to expect cancellations and delays to train services on the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Scotland early on Monday.

The weather warnings were lifted at 6pm last night, and the Met Office said winds and rain will gradually ease by Wednesday but temperatures will stay in the single figures.

Nine cows also died in the storms, when a power cable was blown on top of them in Cornwall.

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