Councils clean up after winds batter UK

25 January 2007

Crews worked all hours clearing debris (Pic: Ringway)

The UK experienced the highest number of traffic incidents and road closures for a decade at the peak of last week’s gales.
Maintenance crews throughout the country worked overtime to assist with road traffic accidents and clearing debris and fallen trees, following storms confirmed as the worst for 17 years by the Met Office. Trafficmaster, the traffic monitoring network, described Friday (19 January) as its ‘busiest single day for recorded traffic incidents in 10 years’.
A spokesman said: ‘We have seen 600 separate part or full road closures due to accidents, overturned vehicles or fallen trees. A normal day would see 100. At its peak, at 3pm, we were monitoring 226 simultaneous events – the highest-ever recorded.’
Widespread gusts of 70-80mph were reported by the Met Office on Thursday (18 January) and were 100mph at their peak. The last time storms this damaging had affected such a large part of the county was in 1990.
Contractor Ringway working in Essex closed the whole of the A130, in agreement with Essex Police, following three successive lorries overturning in quick succession, affecting both lanes. A spokesman said: ‘We repaired more than 100m of barrier, cleaned up two large diesel spills, and helped clear the vehicles.’
Major motorway bridges, including the A282 Dartford Crossing, M6 Thelwall viaduct, and M48 Severn Bridge, were closed by the Highways Agency, which urged drivers of high-sided vehicles to postpone their journeys until conditions improved.
The clear-up for roads gangs was extensive, with some working well into the night. In Wiltshire, at least 500 calls were received, with villages cut off by fallen trees on the county’s primary road network, while the gales uprooted 200 trees in West Sussex. There were 340 incidents of blocked highways in Worcestershire.

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Councils clean up after winds batter UK

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