Trees crash down in high winds
A tree snapped and came crashing down, narrowly missing a house, while another snapped and sent branches cascading to the ground as high winds battered the Midlands.
A 40ft tree was blown over by the 50mph winds and landed just inches from the front door of a house in Sutton Coldfield.
Another tree snapped with a large branch plummeting to the ground in Pelsall, falling onto the common rather than the road and passing motorists.
Village resident Terry Gnosill took this picture of the fallen branch on Pelsall Common between Norton Road and Victoria Road. The 67 year-old delivery driver from the Moat Farm estate said the 25ft branch snapped between 10am and 11am yesterday. He said: "It is huge – luckily it has fallen onto the common rather than the road. It has been very windy.
"It could have been a lot worse. It is a main bus route and could have fallen onto the road."
Elsewhere, a massive ash tree landed just inches from the front door of the terraced house on Kings Road in Sutton Coldfield, at around 10am. It caused only minor damage to the exterior of the property.
Firefighters were called to the scene and council tree surgeons were called.
A neighbour said: "There was a big 'whooshing' sound and I came outside to see what had happened.
"I couldn't believe it, I have never seen anything like it.
"The tree is twice the height of a lamp post. There wasn't really a bang but just a very loud noise."
The Met Office predicts further storms and winds reaching around 45mph later this week.
