Police urgently search River Wear to locate missing person who vanished into the water with his since-rescued friend during a storm

Police are urgently searching the River Wear to locate a man who vanished into the water as the UK was battered by heavy storms. 

A search and rescue operation by the RNLI and the coastguard was launched at 5pm on Saturday, after two men fell into the river as Storm Kathleen brought harsh conditions to Sunderland and the rest of the UK. 

While one of the men, who reportedly fell in near Sunderland University accommodation at Panns Bank, managed to get himself to safety, the other still has not been found. 

Northumberland Police has since joined the search, with a spokesperson saying:

'Shortly after 5pm on Saturday, April 6, we received a report of concern for two males who were seen in the River Wear near to Panns Bank in Sunderland.

'Emergency services were deployed to the scene where one of the men had brought himself out of the water.

'Officers and partner agencies currently remain in the area to carry out enquiries and to locate the second man.

'We would ask the public not to gather in order to allow for those at the scene to carry out their duties.'

The coastguard earlier said: 'Two persons were in difficulty on the River Wear. One self recovered, the other is still missing.

'Sunderland's two inshore lifeboats, Tynemouth's all weather lifeboat and a helicopter were launched.'

The operation was stood down at around 9pm last night.

Heavy downpours are set to sweep across Britain tomorrow after Storm Kathleen's 73mph gales sparked travel chaos.

The Met Office has said low pressure will continue to dominate the weather in the week ahead, with unsettled spells of wet and windy weather hitting most of the UK.

It comes after yellow weather warnings were put in place, including a danger to life alert, after the eleventh storm of the season barreled across the country.

Storm Kathleen caused 140 flights across the UK to be cancelled yesterday due to high winds - leaving travellers stranded at Edinburgh, Manchester and Birmingham.

Meanwhile all ferries to and from Liverpool, Heysham and Douglas on the Isle of Man have been cancelled until at least 3pm, and ferries to the Isle of Wight face heavy disruption.

In Belfast the world-renowned Titanic museum will remain closed until Tuesday after high winds caused major damage to its roof.

The Environment Agency issued 127 flood alerts and 20 flood warnings across England and Wales this morning while a yellow wind warning will cover most of north west Scotland until midnight tonight.

The forecaster issued another wind warning for Cornwall, Somerset and Devon from 6pm tomorrow until 6am Tuesday.

The Met Office has warned of potential damage to buildings, power cuts, poor mobile phone coverage and danger to life because of large waves and debris from beaches being thrown on to seafronts.