An elderly motorist died as wind and rain lashed Oxfordshire, writes Matt Childe.

The 72-year-old man, who has not been named, was driving a red Ford Orion car which skidded off the New Yatt Road, in New Yatt, near Witney, on Saturday lunchtime.

Despite efforts of paramedics to save him, he died at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital. A 90-year-old passenger in the car, also needed hospital treatment for minor injuries.

The extreme weather across the UK claimed at least 12 lives and left a repair bill of £400m.

Emergency services in Oxfordshire were stretched to the limit dealing with accidents.

Conal Hatton and Christina Donaldson returned home from a night out early yesterday to find their roof had blown off.

Conal, 23, and Christina, 22, who share a portable home at Prospect Park, Horspath, spent the night huddled up in their lounge, with only a thin layer of plaster and a tarpaulin sheet protecting them from the storm.

Conal, a customer services manager at Rover's Cowley car plant, said: "We arrived home and suddenly a fire engine came round the corner. When I looked around I could see that most of our roof was in the neighbour's garden." The couple, who moved into their rented home in August, spent most of the night moving belongings away from the roof-less area, while firemen from Slade Park in Oxford made makeshift repairs.

The cost of repairs, expected to run into hundreds of pounds, is expected to be met by the couple's landlord's insurers.

Christina, who works at the Woolwich building society in Oxford, added: "The walls had been shaking in the wind - but we never expected this to happen.

"We want to say a big thank-you to the fire service. They were very understanding and did a wonderful job."

Elsewhere, two women, aged 25 and 32, were taken to hospital as a precaution after a three-car smash on the Oxford ring road, between the Rose Hill and Heyford Hill roundabouts, just after noon on Saturday.

In St Margaret's Road, north Oxford, there were two crashes within an hour on Saturday afternoon. A 37-year-old bus driver suffered back injuries after he was involved in a collision with car at 2.15pm. At 2.50pm, four cars were involved in a crash, in which a six-year-old boy suffered a bad bump to the head.

On the B4017 Abingdon Road, a15-year-old boy was taken to hospital with a suspected broken ankle after a car he was in left the road.

A 20-year-old woman escaped relatively unhurt after losing control of her red Vauxhall Corsa and skidding into a ditch, on A40 eastbound, between Ducklington and Oxford Hill.

At 6.30pm, a 20-year-old man and a 15-year-old girl needed hospital treatment after a car overturned, in Aston Hill, Aston Hill, near Lewknor.

On Sunday morning, a woman in her 20s was taken to hospital after a car overturned on the A34 slip road at the Marcham interchange, in Abingdon.

Paramedics also treated three people who were blown over in the wind in Oxford on Saturday. They included a 21-year-old man, who suffered a suspected broken leg, outside Martin's newsagent, in Summertown, and a 95-year-old woman who was badly shaken after being blown off her feet, outside Dillon's newsagent, in Rose Hill. The roof of a barn, in Lechlade Road, Faringdon, was blown off.

Workmen toiled throughout the weekend to repair electricity cables damaged by wind and fallen trees.

Homes in Kidlington, Begbroke and Campsfield were left without power after a fault on an underground cable at 5.30am yesterday. Southern Electricity said power was back to most homes within 45 minutes.

The Environment Agency issued an amber flood warning on the River Thame, between Thame and Dorchester, fearing a risk of flooding to isolated properties, roads and farmland near the river.

A less severe yellow warning was issued on the River Ray in north Oxfordshire.

Waters were expected to subside after rain became limited to showers on Sunday.

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