Express & Star

Brief respite as wind and rain to batter region again

More wind and rain is expected to batter the Black Country and Staffordshire this weekend – but the sun will break through on Monday.

Published
Last updated
Tony Lovering's Ford Focus was hit by a falling tree in strong winds earlier this week

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning and said tomorrow will be ‘particularly wet’ and ‘very blustery’.

Rain approaching from the South West hit the region around lunchtime on Saturday and will stick around over the weekend, worsening today.

A spokesman for the Met Office said: “Rainfall will increase but once it comes through it will be slow moving as it gradually moves north and east.

“Overnight and heading into tomorrow, the rain will continue and we could see the rain possibly intensify so tomorrow will be particularly wet.

“The yellow weather warning in force due to rain reaching between 20 to 30mm.

“We could see around 50mm and we’re in a situation where surface flooding is possible. It will be a very blustery day.”

Bright and clear conditions are set to return to the region on Monday, with bright, clear skies which will extend into Tuesday and Wednesday.

Travel disruption

Commuters from the region faced disruption on Friday as a number of trains were cancelled on the line between Rugeley Trent Valley station and Walsall due to heavy rain.

Replacement buses ran between 7am and 9am whilst other services were cancelled and delayed throughout the day.

The West Midlands Metro network was brought to a halt when overhead line power to the entire system was lost at around 10.30am.

Power was restored by 11am but people travelling between Wolverhampton and Birmingham experienced delays.

There was disruption on the M6 with a fallen tree near Wolverhampton causing significant delays.

Two lanes on the northbound carriageway between Junction 10, for Wolverhampton and Walsall, and 10a, for the M54, were closed from 3pm.

Highways England said that there were long delays tailing back to Junction 6, for Birmingham. The tree was cleared by 4pm.

Drivers also experienced delays on the A5 because of flooding while Shugborough Hall closed early because of the high winds.

Staffordshire Police warned of debris on the roads – including fallen trees after the M6 incident.

Narrow escape

Tony Lovering, 60, had a narrow escape as a huge beech tree crashed onto his car as he made his way back from the shops around earlier this week.

The car, a white Ford Focus, was a replacement for a car that was stolen off Tony’s driveway earlier this year.

The 60-year-old believes he’s having a string of bad luck – with his cider business, Halfpenny Green Cider Company, burning down a month after the car was stolen.

Tony Lovering inspects the damage

He said: “I was down the shops, picking up some groceries and I was driving back along Lawnswood Road around 1pm.

"Suddenly, this massive tree began to come down. I caught it out the corner of my eye and luckily I had time to do an emergency stop, but it hit the car and ended up across the road and smashed the windscreen.

"I’m lucky to be alive. Another split second and I would’ve been killed. There’s been a few other people who have not been as lucky as me with this storm.

“Another foot and it would’ve been across the car. The weight of it would’ve squashed the car and me for sure.

“I’ve had hit a run of bad luck and I thought, when the tree hit, ‘what else can possibly happen?’ and I thought ‘not again’.

Mr Lovering only recently got the car after his last one was stolen

“There’s lots of dents and the front is smashed up. The driver’s side side doesn’t open anymore.

“I got out of the passengers side as the drivers’ side was blocked and I thought I better get away from the tree in case anything fell off it and then my wife came and picked me up.” Tony believes the tree came down because it was rotten at the base.

He added: “We looked at the bottom of the tree where it broke off and it looked rotten. It was weak and the storm gave it some assistance.

“I was able to back the car out and the AA took the car back to the house. The people are picking it up to see if it’s repairable or not.”

In June, the Express & Star reported Tony’s award-winning cider business was forced to halt production after a barn was destroyed by a fire.

The fire destroyed the metal barn, which housed the cider tanks, and all the equipment – in his first year of trading.”