A unusually large wave killed an 85 year old man and injured a woman in her 70s on the cruise ship MS Marco Polo in the English Channel, as it headed for its home port of Tilbury, in Essex.  Both were airlifted from the ship but the man died later. The Marco Polo was returning from a 42 day voyage when it was struck by the massive wave.  The ship sailed from Tilbury on January 5 and is carrying 735, mainly British, passengers and 349 crew.

Wave kills Marco Polo cruise ship passenger in Channel

The latest storm, in a winter of severe storms, struck the UK on Valentine’s Day.  CNN reports that nearly 6,000 homes have been inundated along the Thames Valley and elsewhere following England’s wettest January in 2½ centuries. Severe flood warnings are in place along the Thames Valley to the west of London, as well as in southwest and central England.  Some communities in low-lying areas of Somerset, in southwest England, have been under water since December. On Thursday in London, a 49-year-old woman was killed when the car she was driving was hit by debris when a building collapsed. Two other people in the car were injured, though not seriously.  Thanks to Phil Leon for contributing to this post.