Women dies after being pulled from the sea in Brighton

A woman has died after being pulled from the water near Brighton Marina.

Coastguard boats from Brighton and nearby Shoreham were called to the scene alongside police and paramedics.

A coastguard helicopter was also deployed from Lee-on-the-Solent in Hampshire and landed on a nearby beach after the alarm was raised at around 4.30pm on Tuesday.

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A witness told the Brighton Evening Argus that emergency services performed CPR for “quite a long time” to try and save the woman who was found in the water.

She was taken away on a stretcher by emergency services and her death was later confirmed.

Police said her death is not being treated as suspicious and her family has been informed.

Have you been affected by Storm Noa? If so, contact thomas.kingsley@independent.co.uk

A spokesperson for Sussex Police said: “Emergency services conducted a search off Brighton beach shortly after 4pm on Tuesday, 11 April.

“Sadly, the body of a woman was found.

“Her next of kin have been informed.

“Her death is not being treated as suspicious and a report will be prepared for HM Coroner.”

A Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokeswoman said during the search for the woman that multiple resources had been deployed in the operation.

Storm Noa wreaked havoc across the UK on Tuesday with 75mph gusts of wind.

Elsewhere in Fareham, Hampshire, a woman was reported to have been seriously injured after scaffolding fell on to a main shopping street.

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Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service assisted the woman following the incident in West Street at about 1.45pm before she was passed to the care of paramedics, according to the BBC.

At Blackpool Pleasure Beach, customers on the Big One rollercoaster had to be escorted down after the ride was stopped because of the adverse weather.

A spokesperson for Blackpool Pleasure Beach told the Blackpool Gazette: “At 2.50pm on Tuesday, 11 April, Blackpool Pleasure Beach stopped the Big One train on the ride's lift hill due to sudden changes in weather conditions.

“Guests on the ride were reassured and escorted from the ride by Blackpool Pleasure Beach staff.

“Due to high gusts of wind the Big One roller coaster closed for the remainder of the day.”

Coastal areas in the South West were worst hit by adverse weather conditions, with the National Grid reporting in the afternoon that 268 properties in Devon and 43 in Cornwall had been left without power.

A 96mph gust was recorded by the Met Office at The Needles on The Isle of White - the strongest in the UK.

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Tom Morgan, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “In addition to the strong winds, we've seen heavy showers and thunderstorms relatively widely through England and Wales this afternoon, particularly in south-east England and East Anglia.

“We've also seen snow across the higher ground of Wales in the Pennines, and across the Scottish Highlands.”

Wind and rain sweeping through regions have led to rapid drops in temperature, with temperatures falling in Rothamsted, Hertfordshire, by four degrees in the space of an hour.

Met Office spokesman Stephen Dixon said: “The set up is low pressure dominant both in the South West and in Scotland.

“Overnight tonight and into Thursday, we are expecting these low-pressure systems to combine and move into the North Sea. This will leave behind showers across much of the UK with winds decreasing throughout the day on Thursday.”

Although the weather system is a named storm in France, it is not classed as such by the Met Office.