Beach huts are lifted as storm hits Hayling

They were battered by huge waves as Dominic Digby, 48, from Rowlands Castle, captured the moment on camera.

Dominic said: ‘I was filming when the wave hit and moved all the beach huts.

‘It has been incredibly windy but I certainly wasn’t expecting something like that to happen – it was completely out of the blue.

‘I caught it by chance – I was down there to do some kitesurfing.’

The storm also meant trains were delayed due to trees blocking the line.

South Western Railway said a fallen tree that created a blockage between Havant and Petersfield meant trains had to run at reduced speed on all lines.

There were delays of up to 15 minutes until just after 4pm yesterday afternoon.

Meanwhile, all hovercraft sailings from Southsea were cancelled.

Strong winds meant the craft could not operate, Hovertravel said.

A tweet from the firm said: ‘Unfortunately our services are suspended due to the strong winds still in the Solent.’

A weather warning was in place yesterday and earlier in the week the Met Office had warned there was a ‘risk to life’.

Mr Digby said that what happened to the beach huts was because of the spring tide, which is why last year’s Storm Brian was much less destructive.

He said: ‘Where Storm Brian took place in October last year, there were some big waves but it wasn’t a spring tide, so that is where the damage tends to come in.

‘Spring tides have much higher waves.’