Tributes have been paid to a ‘gentle giant’ who was killed when a tree fell on his caravan during Storm Goretti.
James Southey, 50, who lived on farmland in Mawgan, west Cornwall, was described as a ‘kind family man’.
He died on Thursday evening when storm-force winds hit the region. Despite officers working through Friday to safely remove the tree from the mobile home, Mr Southey was found dead at the scene.
The tragedy unfolded when Cornwall was being battered by Storm Goretti with gusts of up to 100mph, and almost 70,000 homes being left without power.
Residents on a tidal island near Cornwall also had nearly 80 trees brought down by Friday morning.
His sister Sam said he was a ‘gentle giant who would do anything for anyone’.
She posted on social media: ‘Absolutely devastated to share the tragic news of the death of my brother James. We are all in shock and struggling to come to terms with this very sad news.
‘Never in a million years do you expect that knock on the door to be for you. He was a gentle giant who would do anything for anyone, we will miss him dearly.’
James Southey, 50, who lived on farmland in Mawgan, west Cornwall, was described as a ‘kind family man’
Two large trees have fallen on a house in Truro, breaking through the roof and crushing three cars
Damage caused by trees on Friday after they fell during Storm Goretti in Falmouth, Cornwall
One of the cars damaged after two large trees were brought down by the storm in Truro
Friend Caroline Blatter said: ‘So sad to hear this, utterly gutted. James was such a gentle kind family man with a lot of love to share. How missed he will be.’
Other friends said he was the ‘kindest and sweetest soul’ and a ‘true gentle giant taken too soon’.
An inquest will be opened into his death. Police said there were no suspicious circumstances.
Storm Goretti has left thousands of people facing power cuts, school closures and travel chaos after unleashing destructive winds and heavy snow across Britain.
More than 40,000 properties were without power in the South West at midday on Friday, according to the National Grid’s website, while about 11,000 had no power in the West Midlands, more than 500 had no power in the East Midlands and more than 400 were without power in Wales.
Severe conditions also caused school closures and travel disruption with flights grounded at airports, roads blocked and large swathes of the rail network shut.
Temperatures in the coming week are expected to be between 9C and 12C in the South and between 6C and 10C in the North.
A Met Office forecaster, Greg Dewhurst, said the change of temperature could see melting snow ‘lead to the risk of flooding’.
