Battered and braced for more

With more gale force winds and heavy rain predicted, safety experts warned that road conditions could become more treacherous, with standing water, fog and debris littering the highways.

However, the Environment Agency said the latest spell of bad weather did not look like repeating the devastating floods that swept through the North-East last January.

At Satley, between Tow Law and Lanchester, two bullocks were killed when a Jaguar car crashed into them. The driver escaped without injury.

High winds caused structural damage to a house in Jackson Street, Brotton, east Cleveland, where council officials ordered an emergency road closure.

Police said there had been numerous problems with fallen trees, especially on the A68 in County Durham.

Several trees were also blown down on the A66 near Scotch Corner.

In Aldbrough St John, near Richmond, North Yorkshire, a woman had a narrow escape when a large branch fell on her car.

Darlington Borough Council had five calls to remove fallen trees that were blocking roads, including the Commerical Street car park, Abbey Road Primary School, Staindrop Road, Belford Gardens and Willow Road East. Police were called to Dibdale Road, in Neasham, at 5.30am yesterday - where a fallen tree was blocking a road.

Richard Newsome, 54, of Whitemeadows, Darlington, telephoned The Northern Echo after he woke up to find a 300-year-old beech tree had blown over in his garden.

He said: "I looked out of the window and it was a horrific site. The tree had fallen on my grandchildren's playhouse. It was the main tree in my garden and it is a real shame."

Mr Newsome and his wife, Patricia, heard the wind during the night but had no idea the once mighty tree had blown over.

Police in Teesdale dealt with reports of ten trees that had blown down overnight.

Two trees came down on the A67 between Barnard Castle and Darlington. There were also fallen trees at Whorlton, Kinninvie, Greta Bridge, between Staindrop and Ingleton, High Force and between Mickleton and Eggleston.

Police were also concerned when a tree blew down at Mickleton and was touching power cables. However, it did not disrupt supplies to the village.

Inspector Kevin Tuck of Barnard Castle police said: "Fortunately, these created no serious accidents or injuries when they fell.

"Although they did cause an inconvenience and posed a possible danger. They were moved by a combination of council workers, farmers, police and the fire brigade."

Christmas lights in Galgate, Barnard Castle, were also blown down.

Northern Electric (NEDL) said 6,000 homes lost power throughout the region, including Seaham, Norton, Northumberland, Darlington and Richmond.

The company brought in a helicopter with satelite navigation to fly over the countryside checking for power lines that had been pulled down by flying debris and fallen trees.

A spokeswoman for NEDL, said: "The electricity distribution network was affected during the night by winds of up to 70mph, as predicted by the Met Office.

"Our engineers have worked continuously to locate and carry our repairs. We had restored 5,000 customers by lunchtime yesterday."

Flooding experts at the Environment Agency said the latest data from river gauges and satellite pictures suggest the bad weather should not create major flooding, but advised people to stay vigilant.

Monitoring yesterday morning showed that most rain gauges in the upland areas had more than 40mm of rain in the previous 12 hours, but one gauge, at Hawes, near Wensleydale, in North Yorkshire, recorded more than 70mm in 24 hours.

Flood engineer Robin Bailey said: "We receive up-to-the-minute information about water levels and weather patterns for the Yorkshire and North-East region.

"People who know their properties are particularly vulnerable to flooding should be prepared for some risk, but at the moment there is no cause for alarm."

For further information log onto on www.environment-agency.gov.uk or ring the Floodline on 0845 988 1188.