West Berkshire feeling effects of Storm Ciara

Power cuts and some travel disruption

WEST Berkshire is feeling the impact of Storm Ciara with strong gusts impacting travel and power.

An amber warning for wind is in place across the south east, the Met Office recording gusts of 58mph in the district this morning.

The Met Office has said that Storm Ciara will bring a spell of very strong winds and that travel disruption is likely. It has warned people to be aware of some damage to buildings, such as tiles blown from roofs.

The wind warning also covers longer journey times and cancellations, and power cuts with the potential to affect other services, such as mobile phone coverage.

Update at 5.30pm

Firefighters from Dee Road in Tilehurst were called to lightning strike in Upper Woolhampton.

Crews arrived in Abbey Gardens at 12.45pm and found that the top of a property had been hit by lightning.

Firefighters inspected the damage and investigated the lofts of the three terraced houses but only found slight structural damage on the outside.

They left the scene after half an hour.

The managing director of The Vineyard Group, which includes The Donnington Valley Hotel, Andrew Mckenzie, had to cancel his journey this morning after a tree landed on the car just outside Woolhampton.

Elsewhere, a tree has come down on Greenham Road.

A tree has also come down on the A4 near the Berkshire Arms in Midgham.

Power cuts have hit West Berkshire this morning with outages reported across the RG20 area.

Network Rail and train operators are advising passengers to check their journeys this weekend.

Great Western Railway has warned that train services between Basingstoke and Reading have been affected this morning after a tree fell on the line.

"Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed or revised. All stations between Reading and Basingstoke will not be served. Disruption is expected until 11:30 09/02", the operator said.

There is some disruption between Bedwyn and Reading with an amended timetable in place for services between the two stations.

West Berkshire Council has said that extra staff are on duty to deal with calls and to clear debris. The council has said to call in an emergency, but if it is not urgent to report it tomorrow or use http://westberks.gov.uk/reportaproblem