British sailor missing in the Bay of Biscay as French airforce recover wrecked yacht adrift in Atlantic
A British sailor is missing in the Bay of Biscay after Storm Herminia made landfall on the western coast of Europe, bringing with it high winds and torrential rain.
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The 73-year-old man was reported missing after an air force helicopter located the yacht adrift off the French coast.
The vessel, described as an American flagged yacht named Tiger PA, found itself in trouble at around 5.30pm on Saturday according to reports.
The man had reportedly set off a distress beacon amid high winds, with rescue efforts sent to an area located around 50 miles west of Lacanau.
It comes as Storm Herminia made its way towards Britain, with more than 40 flood warnings issued amid warnings of widespread power outages.
Divers were winched down from the rescue helicopter to the "gutted" wreck of the sailboat, with no sign of the man aboard.
The search was later suspended at 1.33pm on Sunday, as high winds and rain lashed the west of Europe.
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The north of Spain and western France are currently experiencing dangerous conditions from Storm Herminia.
Initial efforts saw a Portuguese cargo ship and a Spanish hospital ship diverted to the area in a bid to join the search efforts.
The French navy's Falcon 50, a surveillance aircraft, was also deployed after nightfall, with efforts called off as the storm closed in.
It comes as a series of yellow warnings for wind and rain have been issued with more than 40 flood warnings in place, as three inches of rain are expected to hit and 70mph gusts of wind.
The Environment Agency issued 173 flood alerts and 51 warnings across England, with 15 alerts issued by Natural Resources Wales has 15 alerts and two alerts in Scotland.