Major rail disruption after fierce winds batter the West Midlands
[gallery] Gale-force winds of more than 70mph brought trees crashing down on to cars, mayhem on the trains and left many homes without power as the West Midlands felt the brunt of fierce storms.
The severe weather caused a window to fall out of a building in Wolverhampton and blew trees on to overhead power lines.
Meanwhile, more rain and heavy winds are forecast to hit the UK tomorrow with high winds forecast for Friday evening and Saturday morning.
It comes after severe weather hit the region yesterday. There was panic on rail services as Virgin Trains last night advised passengers to abandon all travel. In a dramatic tweet, the rail company last night said: "New: All customers to abandon travel #UKSTORM."
And commuters were still suffering the effects of the storm today. At Wolverhampton rail station today, passengers faced early morning disruption as trains to Stafford were cancelled because of a tree on the line. Trains were suspended between Wolverhampton and Stafford last night after the tree came down near to Four Ashes, Penkridge. Virgin Trains were unable to run from early evening but services resumed from 8.30am today.
Meanwhile, a motorist had a lucky escape when a 50ft tree fell on to his car in Erdington Road, in Aldridge. It fell on to a Ford Ka, damaging its bonnet, but its driver escaped unhurt. The tree also scraped the roof of a Volkswagen Golf.
There were problems on the M5 when a car flipped on to its roof, while drivers faced delays on the M6 northbound at junction 14 for Stafford, after a tree fell on to the carriageway between junctions 15 and 16.
A tree fell on Greenwood Road, just off the main A449 Stafford Road in Wolverhampton, while Jenny Walker Lane in Perton was also blocked because of a similar incident. There were also problems along Long Lane, Essington. In Wolverhampton, 10 trees fell as a result of the high winds and crews worked late into the night to clear up the debris.
Hoardings were blown down around the site of the former Fox Hotel, at the Penn Road island, and a large pane of glass also blew out of the BT building on Mitre Fold at around 4pm, forcing the road to be closed until 8pm. Moor Lane in Pattingham was also flooded with water, with residents given sandbags to help protect their homes. Around 2,000 homes and businesses were last night affected by a power cut near the Wheaton Aston area in Staffordshire last night. The bad weather also caused the closure of Woden Primary School, in Springfield Road, Wolverhampton. It was shut today and will be closed again tomorrow due to 'extensive leaks'.
Woodsetton School, in Tipton Road, Woodsetton, was also closed. It was announced today all amateur league games on council-owned pitches and parks in Wolverhampton have been cancelled again this weekend due to waterlogged pitches. It is the fourth weekend running that games have not been able to go ahead.
Meanwhile, Army personnel have been deployed in Worcester to assist emergency services as severe flooding continues to impact parts of the city.
Members of the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Regiment arrived this afternoon as water levels along the River Severn continued to rise.
They were assisting with ongoing operations including helping other agencies to visit people and properties which are vulnerable.
Forecasters say winds reached around 72 mph in the region while the Welsh and Shropshire border experienced gusts of 93mph.
Parts of Scotland and Wales were battered by winds of up to 108mph.
In Wiltshire a man died after it was believed he was electrocuted while clearing a fallen tree which had hit power lines.
