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High winds have brought chaos across the Yorkshire and Humber region with roads, rail and power supplies suffering disruption.
Lorries were blown over on major trunk routes and around 50,000 properties across Yorkshire lost power supplies
England was hit by heavy rain and strong winds on Thursday. Trains, planes and ferries were cancelled, while these lorries in County Durham found themselves on flooded roads
In the North West ferries to the Isle of Man were disrupted and waves were crashing up on to promenades as seen here in Blackpool
Brighton was another resort where huge waves were crashing up on to the beach.
Further inland winds were still at gale force. This car was hit by a falling tree on the Embankment alongside the River Thames in London.
A tree was blown down by Colston's School in Cotham Grove in Bristol.
Ferries from Dover to Calais, Dunkirk and Boulogne were cancelled as the rough waters made it too unsafe to set out to sea.
Many buildings were damaged by high winds. The end of this house in King's Lynn, Norfolk, collapsed in the gales.
This picture of high winds at Mudeford in Dorset early on Thursday morning
It was not just wind and rain which caused problems - snow at Tow Law in County Durham caused this car to crash off the side of the road.
Two cars were destroyed by a fallen tree in Kidderminster
A bus left the road during high winds on the A10 in Cambridgeshire
South Yorkshire Police - Press Release
SOUTH Yorkshire Police are warning people only to travel if necessary as stormy weather continues to batter the county.
Both main Trans-Pennine routes - the A628 Woodhead Pass and the A57 Snake Pass - are currently closed after lorries and trees were blown over by high winds.
Motorways in the area have also been affected. The M18 has been closed north and southbound between junctions 4 and 7 for safety reasons and due to blown over vehicles blocking the carriageway. One lane of the A1 north is currently blocked between junctions 36 and 37, at Sprotbrough, after a wagon was blown over and police have closed the A1M northbound between Blyth and the M18 because of overturned vehicles.
The M1 has been shut in both directions between junctions 30 and 32 due to problems caused by the high winds and a blown over lorry is also blocking southbound lanes at junction 34. The top deck of the Tinsley Viaduct has been closed to high-sided vehicles.
And a lorry has been blown over on the M1 north at junction 29 in Derbyshire, delaying motorists heading into South Yorkshire.
Numerous other weather-related incidents have also been reported to police across the county.
Said South Yorkshire's Force Incident Manager Inspector John Bowler: "We've taken a steady stream of calls since around 7am today with people reporting everything from road accidents to structural damage caused by the bad weather. Thankfully no-one has been seriously hurt, but with the storms expected to continue for at least another six hours, our advice to people is don't travel unless you have to and stay indoors."
Incidents reported so far include: a fallen tree at More Hall Lane, Bolsterstone, Sheffield; a wall blown down and partially blocking Wombwell Lane at Stairfoot, Barnsley; a lorry blown onto its side on the A629 at Wortley; a cable hitting the roof of a motorist's car at Lidget Lane, Thurnscoe, Rotherham; three cars stuck in floods at Lee Lane, Millhouse Green, Sheffield; an HGV blown over on the A629 at High Green, Sheffield; Bawtry Road in Doncaster closed in both directions due to part of the roof being blown off the old Belle Vue stadium; and roads in the Union Street area of Sheffield city centre closed after part of the roof was blown off Redvers House. Not even the police escaped after two trees were blown over, damaging cars of support staff at Wath Police Station.
Police estimate that around 20 lorries have been blown over in South Yorkshire with winds gusting at more than 65mph at the Force's air support unit in Sheffield.
Commented the Force's head of road policing, Ch Insp Ian Bint: "Every available traffic and operational support officer has been deployed on roads duties and they will be working extended hours to assist motorists affected by the weather."
"We are working closely with our partners at local councils and the Highways Agency to try and keep the county moving."
"However, I'd like to reinforce warnings to people not to travel at the moment if at all possible and urge drivers of high-sided vehicles not to take to the motorway network."
Thursday 18th of January 2007 3:10:54
INVESTIGATIONS were today being carried out after parts of Penistone Road flooded during yesterday's storm - despite millions of pounds being spent to solve the problem.
Water - in some places a foot deep - flooded out of Hillsborough Park onto the busy carriageway as commuters battled driving rain and storm force winds.
As a consequence of the flood, drivers heading to work from the north of the city along the A61 faced a nightmare journey.
A council spokesman said the area had once been notorious as a flooding blackspot until Yorkshire Water installed a massive underground water tank.
It was believed the problem had been solved - until yesterday.
"The area has had a problem with flooding but we thought that it had been solved by the work carried out by Yorkshire Water. We are now going to investigate with them why this has happened," said the spokesman.
Police said many of the traffic problems were caused because people were avoiding driving through large puddles.
Police spokesman Mike Trees said: "The traffic wasn't caused by a major incident such as a lorry blowing over but simply because people were driving slower and avoiding large areas of standing water caused by the horrendous weather."
Marketing manager Graham Walker, aged 44, of Elsecar, Barnsley, said it took him three hours to drive to work in Sheffield - a journey that normally takes him 35-minutes.
He said: "My legs felt like I'd been on a long haul flight. I could have flown to a Mediterranean destination quicker than it took me to get to Sheffield.
"The most frustrating thing of all was there wasn't any obvious reason - just an extremely heavy volume of traffic, down to a couple of large puddles. One was the top side of Grenoside, the other on Penistone Road."
19 January 2007
FEROCIOUS winds and torrential rain left a trail of destruction across South Yorkshire after one of the worst storms to hit the county for years.
Trees were ripped out of the ground, roofs were blown off, numerous roads were closed and 10,000 homes were left without power as severe gales wreaked havoc yesterday.
Emergency services dealt with more than 300 incidents across South Yorkshire.
In a day of weather chaos several routes in and out of the city were flooded or closed because of high winds, schools and sporting venues were evacuated and the M1, M18 and major trans-Pennine routes were shut.
Greg Cutts, aged 17, of Spencer Street, Barnsley, and an elderly woman were taken to hospital with cuts after a tree smashed through a train carriage window at Elsecar station. Other rail services were cancelled due to blockages on lines or delayed due to speed restrictions.
Jamie Courtney, of South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: "The extreme weather meant we experienced "spate conditions", which involved releasing all appliances for immediate availability.
"The majority of calls related to trees, chimneys and signs that had blown over and vehicles that had overturned in the high winds."
A South Yorkshire Police spokesman added: "Our switchboard was almost jammed with callers reporting hundreds of incidents caused by the gale force winds."
CE Electric, which is responsible for electricity distribution in South Yorkshire, said 10,000 households in the county were without power. Worst affected were exposed rural areas such as Bradfield where high winds whipped off thousands of gallons of surface water from Dam Flask, sending it hurling it over the dam wall, drenching walkers and cars.
Homes in Low Bradfield were without electricity from mid-afternoon until the early hours today. Road signs were unear-thed from the ground in several spots around Woodfall Lane.
In Derbyshire and north Nottinghamshire, several thousand more homes had electricity cut off.
Despite the disruption to roads, there was no gridlock in Sheffield city centre, as commuters set off home earlier and allowed more time for their journeys.
There were jams, however, around Broad Lane, after traffic was diverted when Shalesmoor was closed due to an unsafe building, and on routes surrounding the M1, where Tinsley viaduct was closed, along with sections between 29 and 30, and 30 and 32.
Queues up to four miles stretched along the A617 and A61 through Chesterfield as traffic was diverted from the motorway.
Among the buildings damaged was the Grade II listed Abbeydale Picture House, which had part of its dome ripped off.
Howard Greaves, vice chairman of the Friends of Abbeydale Picture House, said: "The wind has ripped the balustrade off the dome and sent it crashing in a million pieces to the pavement. It's a very sad day for this historic building."
Parts of schools were evacuated, included Sheffield Spring Academy in Arbourthorne, formerly Myrtle Springs School, where upper floors windows were shattered. The school was closed today.
And an area of the new multi-million pound Meadowhead School had to be evacuated after reports that part of the roof had been damaged.
The upper floor of a building at Hallam Primary School, Lodge Moor, was emptied after a window was ripped out and smashed on the ground. The site is closed today to year five and six pupils.
Sheffield Wednesday's inflatable training ground gym had to be evacuated after fears the wind would blow it away.
Throughout the day numerous readers contacted The Star to report fallen trees including Parkside Road, Middlewood, Abbeydale Road, Richmond Road in Richmond and Endcliffe Terrace Road near Brocco Bank.
And motorists had a lucky escape after trees collapsed onto a car in the Berkeley Precinct, off Ecclesall Road, and in Lawson Road, Broomhill.
Builder John Pedder, of Run-dle Road, Nether Edge, found a lime tree had fallen on top of his Saab 900 car and demolished part of the garden wall.
Mr Pedder, who was in his home at the time, said: "The trees are beautiful things but their condition is now of some concern. The car's a write off and I'm only covered by third party insurance."
Gable ends were blown off at houses in Tree Top View, Ecclesfield Common, and Cowley Drive, Chapeltown.
In Heeley, residents were evacuated from maisonettes in Abney Drive, after the flat roof lifted and residents of Derby Street Maisonettes were advised to stay indoors to avoid being injured by falling debris after wind damaged the flat's roof.
n The Star would like to thank the countless readers who sent photographs of the storm damage around South Yorkshire.
Timeline of destruction
7.30am: Parts of Penistone Road near Hillsborough Park flood. Traffic heading out of the city backs up almost to Brook Hill roundabout.
7.45am: Reports that Green Lane, Firth Park, is almost impassable because of flooding.
8am: Network Rail advises train operators to run at a reduced speed of 50mph.
11am: Lorry overturns closing M1 northbound between junctions 29 and 30, near Chesterfield.
1.15pm: Two passengers taken to Barnsley Hospital with cuts after tree branch smashes through train window at Elsecar station.
1.30pm: Endcliffe Terrace Road, near its junction with Brocco Bank, closed after tree blows over.
1.45pm: Lorry overturns on the bottom deck of the Tinsley Viaduct.
1.50pm: Union Street in the city centre closed because of damage to roof of Town Hall.
1.55pm: Residents across Sheffield begin to contact The Star reporting fallen trees.
2pm: M1 closed between junctions 30 and 32 due to four overturned lorries.
2pm: Sheffield Wednesday says its inflatable gym has been evacuated after fears it would blow away.
2pm: Penistone Road closed between its junction with Hall Wood Road and Bracken Hill.
2pm: Both A57 and A628 cross Pennine routes closed because of high winds.
2.05pm: Parkside Road, between Catchbar Lane and Penistone Road, closed because of a damaged tree.
2.30pm: Friends of Abbeydale Picture House say the building's balustrade has been blown off.
2.45pm: Shalesmoor closed due to unsafe building.
2.50pm: Bottom deck of the Tinsley Viaduct closed.
2.51pm: Richmond Road, Richmond, Sheffield closed because of a fallen tree.
3pm: Wind tears sign off Curry's electrical store on Furnival Gate, in the city centre.
3pm: Parents report that their children were evacuated from new multi-million Meadowhead School after claims the roof was damaged.
3.10pm: Reports that a shop in Blackstock Road, Gleadless, Sheffield has had part of its roof blown off.
3.24pm: Effingham Road, near The Wicker, closed due to unsafe building.
4pm: Traffic in Sheffield city centre begins to build as the number of closed roads puts strain on the road network.
5pm: Sheffield Springs Academy in Arbourthorne announces it will be closed on Friday after high winds shattered windows.
5.30pm: South Yorkshire Fire Service reports it has received at least 312 storm-related calls.
5.30pm: Traffic begins to flow more easily and the winds drop.
