Lizard lifeboatmen spent more than 14 hours at sea

The two sailors on board the boat contacted Falmouth coastguards for assistance at 2015 on Wednesday and have been towed into harbour.

The rescue came as high winds and torrential rain caused chaos across Devon and Cornwall.

More than 130 trees fell in Devon, and about 500 homes were without electricity after power lines fell.

The 31ft yacht Gellie was on its way from the Channel Islands to southern Ireland when its two crew began to struggle in the appalling weather conditions.

The Gellie was en-route to Ireland

The lifeboat towed the yacht back to Falmouth after 14 hours battling against force 9 easterly gales, torrential rain and very heavy seas. Neither of the crew members was injured.

The crew of Gellie, who had spent 12 days on a trip from Scotland to Ireland, said they began the trip with a reasonable weather forecast.

Yacht skipper Mike Dixon, said: "When we set off from the Channel Islands the forecast was for north-east force 5 to 6. For the way we wanted to go, that was fine.

"But it came up and up and then this vicious little low came up from France."

Hundreds of calls

But coastguards said the bad weather was well forecast.

Phil Burgess, coxswain of the Lizard Lifeboat, said no-one should have been out in that weather.

"The normal advice would be to head for some sort of shelter and most people did yesterday," he said.

Police say they answered hundreds of calls as the region was battered by high winds and heavy rain.

Owls are rescued near Barnstaple

The worst affected area in Cornwall was Redruth, where 40 homes were without power at one stage.

Cornwall Highways Department says conditions were so bad it opened it emergency care line.

Meanwhile, near Barnstaple some young barn owls needed rescuing for their safety.

Devon County Council says its teams have dealt with 130 calls about fallen trees.

Staff from Plymouth City Council were also called to Plympton swimming pool after its car park became blocked by a tree.

A crane is being brought into the B3260 New Road in Okehampton to remove a large tree which has completely blocked the road since Wednesday afternoon.

A woman needed treatment for shock after a tree fell on her property in Lydwell Park Road in Babbacombe.