More of a downgrade by the GFS 18z? looks worse for Northern France, Holland, Denmark etc

Can't see this being very wrong so close to the timescale

http://www.theweatheroutlook.com/charts/gfs/18_9_mslp500.png?cb=290

http://www.theweatheroutlook.com/charts/gfs/18_12_mslp500.png?cb=290

83mph recorded at the Needles IOW, no real suprise but not bad seeing as the timing and track is a little later.

SW kicking off about 1am? SE around 7am?

Raining heavy currently here, wind picking up also.

It's back again now, must have been missing some data previously.

http://meteocentre.com/analyses/map.php?map=eur_full&date=2013102800&size=large&lang=en&area=eur

Low shown as 982, and I'm down to 981.7hPa.

After being near calm 10 minutes ago the winds have picked up markedly.

Langdon Bay up to 68 mph, storm arriving IMBY.  While Im Back to bed  for more kip!

108mph at Isles of Scilly, according to DM report.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2478056/UK-weather-Trains-suspended-flights-cancelled-roads-shut-90mph-storm-brings-travel-chaos-millions.html

The highest wind speeds do seem to be along the north coast of France:

105 km/h at Barfleur
116 km/h at Cherbourg
94 km/h at Boulogne
110 km/h at Herbinghen 

Stormy.com!

Now it's really kicking in, very squally in nature.

Squaltastically brutish gusts, going to be some cracked tree trunks and other bad stuff.

Got woken up 15 minutes ago by some intense wind gusts which sounded like short, sharp thunder.

Captured 11 minutes of menacing footage out of one of the windows

No trees down during that time, but one of them cracked very loudly near the end.

http://www.sat24.com/en/gb?ir=true

Thinking of sting jets, that sharp hook feature looks like the sort of thing sting jets are associated with.

Indeed! Looking at the radar, there was the bottom edge of a squall line that just brushed us here in rural Hants about 5:50, and the gusts were much more powerful than anything previously, plus lightning too. Still blowy out there now, but nothing like what it was. Temperature noticeably cooler too, so I suspect that's the cold front gone through.

Lights flickrering and watched as the eucalyptus in my garden had a large limb twisted as the wind veeered and gusted and OUCh, down she went in front of my eyes.  Hoping very much this is now the worst of it because I was expecting my back garden to be sheltered but some of these gusts are evil.

Gusting into the mid 60s now - it was quite hairy driving in, even at 40 MPH the car was lurching around as the gusts hit! There were four trees that had blown over and partially blocked the main road on the Isle; I was able to squeeze round on the wrong side of the road but one chap was less lucky - he'd pranged one of them and was awaiting the AA to tow him away. There's another tree down (partially blocking the A2) near work here, in Sittingbourne. This is easily the windiest it's been for 13 years here!

EDIT: I phoned 101 for the first time (regarding the trees down on the A2500 on the Isle) - very good service, they're sending a patrol car and alerting the Highways Agency.