Tree falls on house and rail travel disrupted as high winds hit region
Travel was disrupted, homes were damaged and trees uprooted after heavy winds and rain hit the region.
Heavy rain and strong gales hit the Midlands overnight after a yellow wind warning was issued for England and Wales, with winds of up to 80mph recorded in parts of the country.
A street in Cradley Heath was sealed off after heavy winds sent a large conifer tree toppling into the side of a home, becoming embedding in the chimney and damaging the side of the house.
Police and fire crews were called to the property following the incident on Overend Road, which happened around 3.30am today.
A spokeswoman for West Midlands Police said: "We were called to reports of a tree fallen on a house in Overend Road, Cradley Heath at around 3.30am this morning.
"The road was closed while fire crews made the scene safe. There were no reported injuries."
The fire service said firefighters used chainsaws to cut down the tree, which had caused considerable damage to the property's roof, and bricks were falling from the roof.
Rail travellers between Birmingham and Lichfield were hit with disruption on Wednesday evening after plastic sheeting was blown from neighbouring properties onto the overhead power lines in two separate locations.
Sixteen trains were disrupted during a three-hour period while Network Rail staff untangled the plastic and removed it from the overhead lines, which carry 25,000 volts of electricity, in the Duddeston and Gravelly Hill area of Birmingham.
The weather also affected people travelling on the Birmingham Snow Hill line after a tree fell on the line near Kidderminster, causing disruption to people travelling to Worcester, Dorridge, Whitlocks End, Stratford-Upon-Avon and Birmingham.
Electric supplies were also disrupted at homes across the country, with 110 people left without power for several hours in Stourport and other homes along the border affected by outages.
There was a warning of possible flooding at the Crew Green River Gauge, with flooding of roads and farmland expected near White Abbey and in the area between Shrewsbury and Upper Arley by 6pm on Thursday.
The Met Office forecast sees the weather across the region become colder in places, with scattered showers, but beginning to warm up by the beginning of next week, with highs of nine degrees and lows of three degrees.
