STORM Arwen hit the region last night, causing widespread chaos from travel disruption to events being cancelled.

Roofs were ripped off buildings and walls fell down, lorries were blown over and trees fell onto roads and cars.

LIVE BLOG: All the latest from Storm Arwen as North East and Yorkshire wakes up to carnage

People across the region are waking up this morning to discover what destruction the high winds, rain and snow has caused near them.

Residents of Ferryhill, County Durham, will be devastated to see the damage caused to the town hall garden and war memorial.

A soldier statue which tops the war memorial has been knocked off the plinth, after what appears to be a section of roofing from the nearby town library was ripped from the building and blown onto the memorial.

The Northern Echo:

The Northern Echo:

Damage caused to the library and war memorial in Ferryhill

The Met Office had issued a rare red weather warning for coastal areas, stretching from Middlesbrough to north of Aberdeen, which was the first maximum alert to be issued since Storm Dennis in February 2020.

High winds battered the North East from early-afternoon yesterday, with gusts reaching 98mph at Brizlee Wood in Northumberland.

Flood alerts from the Environment Agency remain in place this morning for parts of the Tyne and Wear and North Yorkshire coast.

And the Met Office still has an amber alert, warning of high winds, in place for most of the region and yellow warnings of hill snow and blustery conditions inland.

Forecasters had warned of damage to buildings and homes, disruption to power supply, mobile phone networks and significant disruption to roads and public transport along with damage to coastal areas due to exceptionally large waves and beach material being thrown.

The Northern Echo:

Sutton Bank hit by snow last night Picture: NORTH YORKSHIRE WEATHER ALERTS

Motorists had to take extra care on their journeys, especially on higher and exposed routes, with some roads shut to high-sided vehicles and fallen trees and snow causing problems including on Sutton Bank, North Yorkshire.

The A66 was shut in both directions due to snow and gales making conditions hazardous.

A spokesperson for Durham police said: "Drivers are asked to avoid the area and only travel if absolutely essential."

 

A lorry blown over in high winds this morning blocked the A179 near Hartlepool, County Durham.

rain passengers faced disruption, with services north of Scotland ground to a halt between 5pm and midnight.

Power cuts were reported at locations across the region including an outage that affected 110 properties in Stockton and another affecting 160 homes in South Hetton, though it is not clear if that was caused by the storm.

For the latest on power cuts and advice visit NEDL

And a number of events had to be cancelled or postponed for public safety, from Christmas light switch-ons in Bishop Auckland to Newcastle Falcons's Premiership game against Worcester Warriors which is rescheduled for this evening.

People are still urged stay away from the coast and to avoid unnecessary travel today, and to check the latest Met Office advice before making decisions about their activities.

 

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