18 Killed by High Winds in Britain

LONDON — A ferocious storm with winds reaching 90 m.p.h. lashed Britain today, killing at least 18 people, paralyzing rail and air transportation and leaving highways littered with overturned cars.

All British Rail stations in London were closed except for Victoria Station, Scotland Yard said. The few trains operating in southern England were restricted to 20 m.p.h., British Rail said.

Several highways, including the six-lane M25 freeway circling the capital, were blocked by overturned trucks, and service on two subways lines was disrupted by fallen tree limbs. Scottish police warned motorists to stay off the roads if possible.

The dead included two children killed when the storm severely damaged their schools--one near Bristol in western England and the other near Swindon, 70 miles west of London.

Several deaths were caused by tree limbs crashing down on cars, and two men working on the restoration of a 17th-Century house at Uppark were killed when scaffolding was knocked down, according to Press Assn., Britain’s domestic news agency.

British Airways suspended flights from Heathrow Airport in the afternoon. At Gatwick Airport south of London, a spokeswoman said only four flights had been affected. She said winds at Gatwick were clocked at 70 m.p.h.

Ferry service across the English Channel was suspended, according to the Coast Guard office at Dover.

An estimated 250,000 residents of western England were reported without electric power.

“How anyone considers themselves to be a professional driver can drive . . . in this weather--we have had reports of some going along on two wheels--there is only one word for it: lunatic,” said a transportation spokesman who declined to be identified.

The central lobby of the House of Commons was closed briefly after the wind dislodged a piece of masonry from the exterior, but no injuries were reported.