Hundreds of trees and branches were blown over across Hertfordshire as Storm Ciara wreaked havoc across the county yesterday.
Strong winds and heavy downpours led to severe disruption on Sunday (February 9), with trees falling onto roads, more than 1,000 homes being left without power and even a crane being folded in half.
Hertfordshire County Council highways revealed there were 632 reports of trees and branches that had fallen, a number of which shut multiple roads.
#StormCiara kept us busy all day and night yesterday. We received 632 reports of fallen trees and vegetation, however our contractor @Ringway_UK dealt with emergencies as soon as possible to help keep the network clear. pic.twitter.com/0NCfYMNg3V
— HCC Highways (@Herts_Highways) February 10, 2020
A tree came down in Hempstead Road, which left the road shut between Grove Mill Lane and the Hunton Bridge Roundabout
A tree that fell onto a car in Gammons Lane
A number of these were in Watford. Trees had fallen in Cassiobury Park, Hempstead Road, Gammons Lane and Longspring Lane.
Trees came down in Cassiobury Park due to the strong winds
And several trees were blown on top of cars, with two cars suffering damage in Box Lane, Bovingdon and Longspring Lane.
In Garston, a large tree fell in Woodside Playing Fields, just avoiding park equipment while another fell in Coates Way.
A tree fell onto a car in Longspring Lane
Fallen tree in Woodside Playing Fields
Flooding had also become a real problem along some rural routes, with Primrose Lane and Sandy Lane suffering from a large amount of standing water.
Flooding in Primrose Lane and Sandy Lane
Train passengers also suffered the impact of the storm as Euston Station shut due to overcrowding – this left commuters facing delays travelling from Watford to Euston.
London’s #Euston station has been closed due to severe overcrowding and is now exit only following disruption on the railway network. #StormCiara
— London 999 Feed (@999London) February 9, 2020
Picture: @NetworkRailEUS pic.twitter.com/pDcpVL9Fqv
London Overground trains were also delayed, with one tree falling onto the train tracks near Wembley Central.
⚠️🚨 DO NOT TRAVEL 🚨⚠️
— London Euston (@NetworkRailEUS) February 9, 2020
This is our latest advice to passengers.
Really sorry, folks, but #StormCiara is making it increasingly difficult to run a reliable railway for you.@nationalrailenq @AvantiWestCoast @LDNOverground @LNRailway @CalSleeper pic.twitter.com/j4y2CGDcBu
In Barnet, a failure of the electricity supply in Potters Bar left trains at a standstill and were unable to call at Welham Green.
Towards the evening, UK Power Networks revealed 1,549 homes were left without power in Hertfordshire. Across the East of England, this totalled 25,624.
8pm statement from UK Power Networks on the impact of #StormCiara on our electricity network (2/2) #Bedfordshire #Buckinghamshire #Cambridgeshire #Essex #Hertfordshire #Suffolk #Norfolk #EastSussex #Kent #Surrey #WestSussex pic.twitter.com/2iiBrmTNcC
— UK Power Networks (@UKPowerNetworks) February 9, 2020
Nationally the UK took a battering due to the storm, with with winds reaching up to 100mph.
Planes were grounded, hundreds of roads were shut and multiple trains were delayed - and this caused travel mayhem across the country.
Yellow wind and rain warnings had been issued for north-western parts of the UK on Saturday, followed by a yellow wind warning covering the whole UK for the entirety Sunday.
One person has been killed in the storm - in Hampshire a 58-year-old man died after a tree fell onto his car as he was driving on the A33.
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