Given the weather warning in place and with the safety of staff and residents in mind, we took the decision this morning not to open our libraries and Household Waste Recycling Sites.

Our highways team was well prepared for the extreme weather and have double the number of crews working today and over the weekend.  Up until 4pm we had dealt with 169 calls reporting many incidents including 97 fallen trees, obstructions on carriageways, traffic lights not working due to power cuts and a fuel spillage.

The majority of obstructions on our roads have been cleared but we are still working with partners and contractors to open up some of our roads and we would ask residents to bear with us.

There is a large amount of debris on our roads and we would remind motorists that the risks remain and would urge them to drive carefully and to the conditions.

We would remind residents that further strong winds and heavy rain is forecast for the weekend and encourage people to continue to report any incidents directly to us on 0345 6080193.  The clean-up operation will continue over the weekend.