A WOMAN died as gales swept Britain.
She was crushed when a tree toppled on her car in Northumbria.
That was the worst incident reported as the winds whipped across much of the north.
In West Yorkshire, a van overturned in high winds on the M62 as gusts of up to 80mph battered the region.
The white Mercedes Luton crashed its side in the third lane of the westbound carriageway about 200 metres east of the Scammonden Dam at around 11.40am yesterday.
The accident, which also involved a silver Audi, blocked the carriageway.
Nobody is thought to have been seriously hurt in the accident but it did cause tailbacks stretching more than five miles back to junction 25 at Brighouse.
Meanwhile police closed the eastbound carriageway between junction 22 at Rishworth Moor and junction 23 at Outlane because of a fuel spill shortly before noon.
The carriageway was reopened at about 1.20pm after the fuel had been cleared away.
There were also problems on the westbound carriageway near Junction 26 at Chain Bar when a lorry jack-knifed and blocked two lanes for a short time.
Each incident led to long tailbacks, with queues of traffic stretching several miles.
Forecasters issued a severe weather warning as strong winds swept across Northern Ireland and parts of northern England.
The Highways Agency had announced an ‘amber’ weather warning for the region predicting winds between 60mph and 80mph.
