Roofs blown off, trees down, sinkholes - and more rain to come

THE latest weather forecast is in – and it’s not good news for flood-stricken West Berkshire.
Severe flooding is already affecting many parts of the district, but the torrential conditions are going to continue for the rest of the week and into the weekend.
The Met Office has issued a yellow warning of rain for a 12 hour period for West Berkshire – from 9am this morning (Weds)until 9pm tonight.
There is also a yellow warning of wind for the region from 3.35pm today until 5am tomorrow (Thurs).
Another yellow warning of rain is in place from 6am on Friday until midday on Saturday – combined with another yellow warning of wind from 3pm on Friday to midday on Saturday.
A yellow warning of ice is in place for Oxfordshire tomorrow (Thurs), while West Berkshire will also be gritting roads tonight as temperatures are expected to plummet to as low as two degrees.
The torrential wind and rain caused damage and significant impact throughout the region today.
The inclement weather caused a sink hole to nearly swallow a car in Upper Basildon today (Wednesday)
Police were called to Old Stocks Court, off of Tenaplas Drive at 10.35am this morning to reports of a hole around 8ft wide and 8ft deep and the rear tyres of the vehicle were teetering on the edge.
A cordon is still in place, and the gas company has been notified, and the occupants of two neighbouring properties have been advised to move out while a structural engineer assesses the situation.
Elsewhere, the torrential conditions caused two trees to be blown down – one in Headley and the other in Stroud Green.
Meanwhile residents at sheltered accommodation at Tanners Court, Newbury, were left in shock after the roof blew off the communal building and water started to pour in.
Meanwhile the Army were deployed to help residents of Shaw.
Water has reached thigh height in parts of Purley-on-Thames, which has suffered with flooding since December.
Parish Council Chairman Rick Jones said that the village was still on tenter hooks.
He said: “With today’s rain and the rain we’re expecting we are expecting the river to come up by the weekend. It’s bad but stable at the moment. Our biggest concern has been sewage. The system has not coped and has overflowed substantially.”
Mr Jones said that Colyton Way, Chesnut Grove and Wintringham Way had been closed as well as St Mary’s Avenue, where the sewerage was bubbling up through the drains in the road and that properties in the village had been breached by flood water.
With excess water and strong winds expected Hampshire Constabulary are warning drivers to take extra care in this evening’s rush hour.
Head of the Road Policing Unit for Hampshire and the Thames Valley Superintendent Chris Brown, said: "There are some really difficult driving conditions this evening and I would ask all drivers to take extra care as they drive home from work, and keep other journeys to an absolute necessary minimum. These conditions are going to continue for the next few days.