Wild winds & our lucky escape

Although we’ve had an unusually mild winter the weather turned today. All through the night we could hear the wind lashing the flat. Occasional gusts would find their way through the latched double glazed windows and make strange whistle sounds.

The journey to work this morning was calm. But before long the wind again picked up. Reports of building damage at other Fujitsu sites started to trickle in.

During the day most train services were suspended due to signalling problems and power outages. Traffic on the way home was a problem as people jammed the roads to get home.

Arriving home I found that a huge gum tree had blown down right across our car space. Luckily Merrilyn & James were out at the time as there is no doubt the car would have been completely crushed. The trunk has missed the bike shed but it has been severely damaged by branches. I’m very thankful that we were nowhere near the spot at the time. I dread to think what might have happened otherwise.

Here are a few photos I snapped tonight. Its difficult to make out much but you can see the bike shed in one. Our car usually parks right beside this.

Tonight there were only three lines running in England. To see the rail carnage check out this website showing the rail status.

15 lorries have blown over, and a container ship is breaking up off Cornwall.

And here is an article from the Times describing the winds and damage across England. There were 80mph winds reported up at Cheshire. A cold snap is on the way and snow/frost is forecast for the weekend.