STORM Bert brought huge waves and strong winds to Penzance at the weekend but that didn’t stop the Penlee Lifeboat crew from taking advantage of the poor weather conditions for training purposes.

Storm Bert brought a deluge of rain and strong winds which caused disruption across Cornwall and the UK, with the Met Office’s yellow weather warning in place from 3pm on Saturday until 9pm on Sunday.

However, RNLI’s Penlee Lifeboat crew took advantage of the heavy seas to launch the Penlee Severn Class All Weather Lifeboat ‘Ivan Ellen’ to give some of the newer crew the experience of being at sea on service in difficult weather conditions.

A Penlee Lifeboat spokesperson said: “Penlee Lifeboat Coxswain Patch Harvey took the RNLI lifeboat Ivan Ellen out to sea for rough weather training with a volunteer crew.

“It is vital to ensure all crew men and women are well prepared for any shout which may come in during extreme weather and to be familiar with handling of the All-weather Severn Class lifeboat and her equipment during such conditions.

“The Penlee Lifeboat team always take advantage of stormy weather to ensure crew training is kept up to date and is completely realistic. Winds were blowing at storm force during the training exercises undertaken to the west of Mousehole.

“The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts - saving lives at sea in all weathers.

Ahead of the arrival of Storm Bert, Penzance’s 25ft-high Cornish-grown Christmas tree was secured into place in the town centre on Friday, November 22.