London - one holidaymaker was killed on Thursday as storm-force winds battered the southwest coast of England closing seafronts and flooding coastal villages for a second night.

The unnamed woman holidaying in Dorset was killed after she was struck by a falling tree as she walked along a pavement near the railway station in Corfe Castle. Meanwhile, rescue teams said the search for an eight-year-old boy who disappeared from a campsite in north Devon would continue overnight. Divers are searching a nearby tributary of the River Taw while police dogs and rescue groups scour the land for the child reported missing to police at 1:15 pm (1215 GMT) on Thursday.

Police have closed the promenade in the town of Penzance on the southwestern tip of England following fears that people watching huge waves crash over the seafront could be swept away. Floods were reported in towns and villages along Cornwall's southern coast as wind gusts of up to 60 mph (100 kph) drove the high tide over sea defences.

Britain's Environment Agency placed the south Cornwall coast on a severe flood warning for the second successive day and the south Devon coast on a flood warning, one category down.

Worst-hit on Wednesday night was the south coast of Cornwall, where more than 120 properties were flooded and people were evacuated from their homes as winds gusted to 80 miles per hour. The region was at the mercy of Mother Nature, an Environment Agency spokesman said on Thursday.

The seafronts at Torquay, Paignton, Exmouth and Sidmouth in Devon were all closed because of high waves and debris and inland the storm left trees down across the region. Breaking seas on Wednesday night halted two trains for three hours on the coastal line which remained closed on Thursday as workers cleared from the track the remains of wooden beach huts smashed to pieces by the storm.