Battered by winds gusting to 80mph

Feb 27 2008 by Dan Warburton, The Journal

GALE force winds battered the North East yesterday, causing traffic chaos and destruction.

Winds reached speeds of more than 80mph with the Met Office issuing a severe weather warning across the region.

Traffic in Newcastle city centre ground to a halt as two main bridges across the Tyne were at one point both closed. Later the Metro system was also closed after power lines were brought down in Gateshead.

A house in Whitley Bay partially collapsed in the gales, while roofing showered pedestrians in Durham and downed electricity lines sparked blazes in Northumberland.

Tyne and Wear fire service received more than 28 calls in five hours as they tried to clear fallen scaffolding, overturned lorries and uprooted lampposts.

And motorists were advised to take extra care and avoid certain stretches of road after a number of lorries overturned.

The Redheugh Bridge linking Newcastle and Gateshead was shut when a lorry was blown on to another van shortly after 12.30pm.

The driver was taken to hospital, but the wind made any attempt to move the stricken vehicle impossible. The Tyne Bridge was also closed for a time, causing a massive snarl-up at rush hour.

A spokesperson for Tyne and Wear fire service said: “The incident on Redheugh Bridge involved a high sided lorry that fell on to a van. The van was still shaking in the wind so we could not use the equipment we had planned to use to move it.”

A lorry was also blown over on the A1 southbound at Stannington, near Morpeth, closing the road to all vehicles. Those heading south were diverted at Stannington services and vehicles heading north were diverted at Stannington village.

Metro services were suspended in both directions between Monument and Jarrow and Monument and Brockley Whins on the Sunderland line from around 7.30pm after the wind brought down a section of overhead line at Pelaw.

Some services resumed at 9.30pm but there were still no trains between Pelaw and Brockley Whins.

A further delay to Metro services was caused when two youths were arrested for assaulting a driver at Whitley Bay Station in North Tyneside just after 9pm last night.

The most significant damage to property came at Ivanhoe, Whitley Bay, where bricks were blown from the side of the house and crumbled on to the garage below. A pensioner inside the house was shocked but unhurt.

A neighbour said: “She’s very elderly, about 96, and she has lived in the house since it was built. She’s had a hard day.”

In Durham, at about 3.30pm, huge pieces of roofing were blown on to shoppers and cars on Old Elvet in Durham city centre.

The loose roofing from Durham University’s philosophy building seriously damaged a Range Rover and caused some damage to two other vehicles.

And at 1pm the Stranraer to Newcastle train hit debris that had drifted on to the line at Warden, near Hexham, Northumberland. The train struck stray garden roofing on the track, causing it to close while the debris was cleared. The engine cut out but was fixed shortly after and resumed normal service.

A First ScotRail spokesman said: “No one was injured and a replacement bus service was provided.”

Firefighters from Berwick, Northumberland, attended the New Look store in Marygate to help secure a huge sign that threatened to crash into the street. People were evacuated at noon and shoppers prevented from entering the store.

And firefighters had to retreat when a power line collapsed and sparked a fire in a wooded area in Stannington, Northumberland. The cable was dislodged near Bellasis Farm at about 2pm. It took more than two hours to bring the blaze under control.

Police in Newcastle cordoned off a stretch of Grey Street at about 3.30pm when scaffolding erected around the former Waterstone’s book shop threatened to collapse. Shoppers were diverted and the Grey Street entrance to the Monument Metro Station was closed.

Elsewhere, at about 1.30pm a lamp post collapsed near the County Hall in Morpeth, Northumberland, exposing live wires.