High winds across Mid Staffordshire have been causing chaos, downing power lines and felling dozens of trees.
Gusts of wind of up to 60mph left parts of the Mid Staffordshire region badly affected, with Stafford being one of the most severely affected regions in the UK.
Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service were called to 13 incidents that involved downed trees, two downed power lines, two damaged houses, a trampoline that was blown on to a garage roof and four loose chimneys.
Staffordshire County Council’s Highways Team said in the region of 70 trees had been blown over in total during the windy weather.
Cabinet member for Highways and Transport, County Councillor Mike Maryon, praised crews for their response.
He said: “The highways team is doing a sterling job removing fallen trees from our roads, with crews working around the clock to make the county as safe as possible in very difficult and dangerous conditions. Their dedication and hard work is helping to keep Staffordshire on the move which is vital in the challenging economic climate that we are in and as the country gets back to work following the festive break. The crews will continue to respond, both during the day and overnight, rapidly to any reports of fallen trees or power cables. I would urge anyone who sees debris on the road to call our highways hotline on 0300 111 8000 so that we can take swift action to clear it up.”