Pictured: Father, 68, killed during Storm Eunice after debris smashed through van windscreen


Pictured: Father, 68, killed during Storm Eunice after debris smashed through van windscreen in high winds in Merseyside

  • Merseyside Police rushed to Netherton, Merseyside, at around 2.10pm on Friday 
  • Debris flew through windscreen of a van and his passenger Stephen Matthews 
  • Mr Matthews, from Aintree, was a husband and a father-of-two 
  • He was one of four people killed during last Friday’s Storm Eunice 


A ‘popular’ father died after storm debris smashed through a van windscreen during high winds as Britain was ravaged by Storm Eunice.

Merseyside Police rushed to Netherton, Merseyside, at around 2.10pm last Friday following reports of debris hitting a vehicle.

Once at the scene officers found debris from Storm Eunice had flown through the windscreen of a van and hit passenger Stephen Matthews, 68, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Mr Matthews, from Aintree, was a father-of-two. Paying tribute to him, Mr Matthews’ family said he was ‘taken too soon’.  

He was one of four people killed during last Friday’s Storm Eunice, which saw record-breaking gales of 122mph wreak havoc across the country. 

At the height of the storm, dramatic scenes saw the roof of The O2 in Greenwich, London torn apart, while trees were ripped up, debris was sent flying, shoppers were blown over, and the spire of St Thomas Church in Wells, Somerset came crashing to earth.   

'Popular' father Stephen Matthews, from Aintree, Merseyside, died after storm debris smashed through a van windscreen during high winds as Britain was ravaged by Storm Eunice

‘Popular’ father Stephen Matthews, from Aintree, Merseyside, died after storm debris smashed through a van windscreen during high winds as Britain was ravaged by Storm Eunice

Mr Matthews’s family said: ‘Stephen was a popular and well-known member of the Aintree

community who was tragically taken from us too soon.

‘The beloved husband of Sylvia and devoted Dad to Jonathan and Robert, he will be sadly missed by all of his family and friends.’

The man driving the van was not injured in the incident. 

Merseyside Police rushed to Netherton, Merseyside, at around 2.10pm last Friday following reports of debris hitting a vehicle

Merseyside Police rushed to Netherton, Merseyside, at around 2.10pm last Friday following reports of debris hitting a vehicle

News of his death comes after tributes were paid to an Irish council work and a father-of-one who were two of the other victims of Storm Eunice.   

Elsewhere, a woman in her 30s also died after a tree fell on a car in Haringey, north London on Friday afternoon, the Metropolitan Police said.  

A member of the public also suffered ‘serious injuries’ after being struck by debris from a roof in Henley-on-Thames. 

Two men were hospitalised following similar, separate incidents in south London.

Meanwhile, a huge 400-year-oak tree crashed through a large family home in Brentwood, Essex, narrowly missing 23-year-old Sven Good. 

Once at the scene officers found debris from Storm Eunice had flown through the windscreen of a van and hit passenger Mr Matthews, 68, who was pronounced dead at the scene

Once at the scene officers found debris from Storm Eunice had flown through the windscreen of a van and hit passenger Mr Matthews, 68, who was pronounced dead at the scene

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