Strong winds bring chaos to roads

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The region was hit by high winds, hail and rain showers throughout the night and in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Motorists were warned to take extra care on the roads after winds gusting at up to 85mph struck Northern Ireland, North Wales and north-west England.

The westerly storm front sweeping in from the North Atlantic also brought snow to high ground in northern England and southern Scotland. The Met Office issued a severe gale warning for most of the country, and said disruption to transport and power supplies is possible.

A lorry driver escaped injury when his truck was blown over on the southbound M6, near Lancaster, while the Thelwall Viaduct - between junctions 20 and 21 of the motorway in Cheshire - was closed after three lorries overturned. The Runcorn-Widnes Silver Jubilee Bridge was also closed to high-sided vehicles on Wednesday morning.

A woman was injured when a lamppost fell on to her car in high winds in Greater Manchester on Tuesday night. She was taken to Trafford General Hospital with whiplash and minor cuts and bruises. The lamppost crushed her silver Mini Cooper as she drove along Manchester Road in Carrington, south Manchester, at around 5.50pm.

Around the same time, high winds blew over two other lampposts and also ripped off part of a roof on a council depot building.

Across Lancashire, police reported five trees had been blown over, a garage had collapsed in the strong winds at a house in Preston and some scaffolding had collapsed in Blackpool. A spokesman for Lancashire Police said: "We have had a number of incidents but nobody injured."

Meanwhile, Wednesday afternoon's racing at the Cheltenham Festival has been abandoned due to high winds. Officials made the announcement after another morning of intense gusts at Prestbury Park.

All six races due to take place on Wednesday afternoon will instead be staged on Thursday and Friday. The feature race was to be the Seasons Holidays Queen Mother Chase.

The Environment Agency had one severe flood warning, 15 flood warnings and 31 less urgent flood watches in place on Tuesday night.