The tail-end of Hurricane Gordon whipped up huge waves and high winds - but did not prove as dramatic as forecasters first expected.Talk of torrential rain, strong winds and lightning prompted people in coastal towns to prepare for the worst, but the Met Office last night said the remnants of the storm were "on the way out".

Many areas, including the South Devon and South Cornwall coasts, had been placed on flood alert, but were given the all-clear by 10.30pm.

Amanda Townsend, Met Office national forecaster, said: "The worst is on its way out. The winds are easing and I don't think we are going to see any more in the way of gale-force winds for the rest of the night or tomorrow."

Andrew Munson, harbourmaster for Newlyn, in West Cornwall, said: "We had a storm watch on but we sent them home at 6pm so we have been very lucky. The worst of it went through very quickly and it's now all gone very quiet."

Amanda Johnson, manager of the Ship Inn at Mevagissey, near St Austell, said: "It's quite bad here and the water is coming over the harbour. The pub isn't flooded yet and that's our concern."

WMN photographer Steven Haywood, who was in Torquay, said: "The winds were so strong they were pushing the high tides right over the cars on both sides of the road.

"People trying to walk down the road were completely engulfed by the water, which was probably as high as 30ft."

Miss Townsend said: "We saw widespread gales along the coast and exposed areas of Cornwall but the winds are easing and it seems the worst is over.

"Tomorrow we are going to see some showers with temperatures dipping slightly from today.

Shaun Pengelly, who runs a fish and chip shop in Looe, had put up storm boards in preparation for the worst. He said: "It wasn't as bad as we thought it was going to be. High tide was at 6pm and if we hadn't put our storm boards up I think we could have been in trouble."

Meanwhile, more than 1,000 homes and businesses were plunged into darkness in Truro by a power failure. The electricity supply was lost to customers in the Malpas Road area after power was lost at the station at Shortlanesend.

Engineers were quickly dispatched to the site after power was lost at 5.30pm. It took an hour before the electricity supply was reconnected.

A spokesman for Western Power Distribution said: "The high winds damaged connecting supply lines at the site."

The Royal Cornwall Hospital in Treliske was not affected as it is on a different electrical circuit.

James Instance, at Falmouth Coastguard, said: "We had about half a dozen boats in the Feock area of Falmouth that worked themselves loose from their moorings and ran aground. There was nobody involved and no damage to the vessels."

Article copyright WESTERN MORNING NEWS - image copyright Gabriella Nonino 

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