Winds are easing today after Britain was battered by gales which brought travel chaos and left a motorist seriously injured.

A weather warning for ice is in place until mid-morning for the north of England and Scotland and it is expected to remain breezy today.

Yesterday saw heavy rain and also some snow on higher ground, and today, tomorrow and Good Friday are also expected to see showers and chilly temperatures before conditions start to improve at the weekend. Drier, more settled conditions are expected early next week.

Amid the high winds yesterday a driver escaped with his life after his car was crushed by a tree. He was left with multiple injuries including a serious head wound but was cut from the wreckage and taken to a nearby hospital after the incident in Birmingham.

Fallen trees blocked railway lines, and busy road-bridge routes had to be closed as the storms raged.

Winds overnight and into yesterday gusted at 70mph or more, but last night the strongest gusts were down to 55mph on the north coast of Northern Ireland, and the west coasts of Scotland and Cumbria.

Andy Ratcliffe, a spokesman for MeteoGroup, said: "Generally we are seeing the winds easing, and that will continue overnight. It will be breezy again today but we are not looking at the gusts we have seen."

Nicola Willis of the Met Office said the south-west of the country may see some "fairly breezy" conditions tomorrow, but added that overall the Easter weekend is looking much more settled.