A second person has died in Storm Darragh after a man was killed by a tree falling onto in his car.

The storm brought gusts of 93mph to some parts of the country, with millions warned to stay indoors, tens of thousands left without power and trains cancelled.

West Midlands Police said the latest victim was killed when a tree fell and hit his car on Silver Birch Road, Erdington, on Saturday afternoon.

Sergeant Benjamin Parsons, of the roads policing unit, said: “Our thoughts are with the man’s family at this time, and his next of kin have been informed.”

The road was closed with drivers urged to avoid the area.

Earlier in the day, a man died after a tree fell onto his van in Lancashire.

The man, in his 40s, was driving his Citroen vehicle on the A59 at Longton, near Preston, at about 9am on Saturday.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Detective Sergeant Matt Davidson, from Lancashire Police’s serious collision investigation unit, said: “Very sadly, this incident has resulted in the death of a man and our thoughts are with his loved ones at this time.

“An investigation is ongoing, and I would appeal to anyone who saw what happened or has any dashcam or mobile phone footage to please get in touch.”

The Government’s “risk to life” alert came into effect at 1am on Saturday and was sent to people within the area covered by the Met Office’s rare red warning for wind in parts of Wales and south-west England.

It was the largest use of the warning system yet, with the alert urging residents to avoid driving and to “stay indoors if you can”.

Speaking to Sky News, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said about three million homes had the emergency alert system to their mobile phones.

The Cabinet Office’s emergency alert system sent a message to every compatible device in the affected areas, containing information about the red warning and guidance on how to stay safe.

Mobile phones made a loud siren-like sound even if they were set on silent, with the sound and vibration lasting for about 10 seconds, although some people claimed they did not receive it.

Wind speeds reached 93mph overnight in Capel Curig in North Wales, while gusts hit 92mph in Aberdaron on the Llyn Peninsula.

In other parts of Wales, Northern Ireland and south-west England, gusts topped 80mph.

Small businesses near the Bristol Channel in Somerset said tiles had flown off their buildings and they had faced delivery issues.

Eleanor Sedgwick, 23, a front-of-house supervisor at Scarlett’s in Clevedon, said the cafe did not open on Saturday morning because it was “too big of a risk”.

She told the PA news agency: “The years that I’ve worked here, I’ve never had to close because of the weather, apart from when it snowed.”

Ms Sedgwick said four tiles fell off their roof but she felt the business had “got off quite lucky” compared with previous storms.

She added: “We’re very fortunate because we are the first sort of wall (the storm) hit, so it’s scary but I’m glad that everyone’s happy and safe.”

Ben England, 47, manager of the Tiffin cafe on the same beachfront, said: “Last night we put all the (outside) chairs under wraps and tried to make it as secure as possible.

“Some of our deliveries didn’t make it through from Bristol, but I think we should be OK. I cancelled probably 80% of our staff that were coming in today, so it’s literally just the skeleton crew.”

Both Ms Sedgwick and Mr England said they were surprised at the number of customers venturing out.

Part of Knightstone Road in Weston Super Mare was closed to pedestrians and traffic after pieces of an RNLI station were left flapping around in the strong winds.

Jimi, 33, who was working in the Il Michelangelo restaurant situated on the road, told the PA news agency: “If [the roof] does come off, God knows where it’s going to land. Hopefully it rips off smoothly and goes on the floor without causing any damage to anybody. We are worried for people more (than the restaurant).”

A number of local businesses on the Weston Super Mare parade were closed on Saturday while others had signs in their windows stating they would open in the evening.

Paul Williams, general manager of Llandudno Pier in North Wales, said it may cost £250,000 to repair the damage Storm Darragh caused to the tourist attraction and it may not reopen for a “considerable” amount of time.

Cardiff resident Stuart Cox, 64, said that an approximately 50ft mature tree in Cathedral Road in the Welsh capital fell into his next door neighbour’s garden in the early hours of Saturday.

Meanwhile tens of thousands of people in Northern Ireland, England and Wales were left without power.

The Met Office issued the red weather warning – the most serious type – on Friday for wind, meaning dangerous weather was expected and people were urged to take action to keep themselves and others safe.

The now-expired warning, which has led to the cancellation of events including Christmas attractions, was in place from 3am to 11am on Saturday.

All the Royal Parks are closed, including their cafes, kiosks, park roads and cycleways, meaning Winter Wonderland in London did not open.

Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire said on its website that it would not open on Saturday for safety reasons, while Bristol Zoo was also closed.

The Merseyside Premier League derby between Everton and Liverpool at Goodison Park that was due to kick off at lunchtime was postponed.

A separate amber warning covering a larger part of the west coast of the UK, stretching from southern Scotland to Cornwall, and Northern Ireland was in place from 1am until 9pm.

The Environment Agency had 48 flood warnings in place in England on Saturday evening, meaning flooding is expected.

An amber warning for rain was in place in Wales from 3am to 6pm on Saturday with heavy rain causing disruption to transport and infrastructure.

A yellow warning for rain was in place for Northern Ireland and Wales, both of which were badly affected by flooding during Storm Bert, as well as parts of Scotland from 3pm on Friday until noon on Saturday.

National Rail said the storm was likely to affect services across the whole network as it warned people to check their journey in full before travelling as it may mean the last services of the day are cancelled.

Yellow wind warnings will be in place across much of the UK, including London and the South East, on Sunday.