Destruction as severe gales strike region

Gale-force winds of more than 60mph brought scenes of destruction to the Black Country today, bringing down trees and making driving conditions treacherous.

Heavy winds and biting rain lashed the region overnight sending trees crashing down. On Dingley Road, in Wednesbury, the wind brought a large branch crashing down onto the roof of a house.

A mature ash tree also came down in West Bromwich's Dartmouth Park and a cherry tree fell in Shenstone Road in the town in the early hours of this morning.

A poplar fell yesterday lunchtime in Walsall Road, Stone Cross, ending up in gardens in Simon Close. The treacherous weather conditions also caused roadworks schemes to be put back.

St Peters Road in Netherton was due to shut on Monday until December 10 but highways chiefs have moved the closure back to Thursday due to the weather.

Storm-force winds gusting over 60 mph caused havoc across the country. A woman died after she was impaled by a branch when a falling tree hit her car in Wakefield.

Another person was injured after the tree fell on their car also in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, last night. Both were taken to Pinderfields Hospital, in Wakefield.

As gusts reached 100mph, aircraft had to be diverted from Leeds-Bradford airport where high winds caused havoc for some flights.

One plane from Dublin had to switch to Liverpool after making three unsuccessful attempts to land at Leeds-Bradford last night, with several other domestic flights being forced to fly on to Manchester.

This morning, gusts of 62mph hammered the coast in the north west but conditions were set to improve.

Aisling Creevey, a forecaster with weather company MeteoGroup, said: "It's unusual to see sustained winds for such a long period of time."