Clean up begins after stormy North East weekend

Ropes securing the Princess Seaways to its berth at the Port of Tyne in North Shields snapped in the high winds on Sunday November 29.

Pete Akerman from DFDS told ITV News Tyne Tees the ship underwent a thorough assessment before departing for Amsterdam.

Thank you to Glenn Thomas for sending us this footage of a DFDS Seaways Ferry breaking free from its moorings yesterday during high winds.

You can read more about this story here and see a full statement about what happened from DFDS.

The family living at this home in West Monkseaton had a lucky escape.

A tree, blown over by yesterdays high winds fell just inches from their home.

Today a tree surgeon was on site to remove the fallen tree.

He said he'd had over 30 calls in the last 24 hours after winds of up to 60 mph were recorded in the region.

A trader from the North East Gifts company has thanked market organisers after the Christmas Market had to be cancelled due to extreme winds.

Gusts of up to 60mph caused stalls and fences to blow away - leading to an evacuation of the site yesterday afternoon.

Alan Sawyers from North East Gifts sent us these photos from the aftermath of yesterdays storm.

He said the staff were 'great' and that next year organisers have promised marquees!

He said next year, come rain, snow or unseasonable sunshine "we will be back!"

Tynemouth RNLI rescued a capsized sailing dinghy with two people on board near to South Shields pier yesterday afternoon in winds of over 60 mph.

Both passengers on the boat had already managed to get out of the water but the boat was drifting between the piers.

The lifeboat crew managed to get a tow rope attached to it and headed back to safety with the boat in tow.

However, as the rescue was underway in the Tyne harbour, another situation was unfolding five miles down the coast at Seaburn where a windsurfer had been reported to have been separated from his board.

The RNLI crew said anyone considering taking to the water should be mindful of the conditions.

Thank you to Stephen Miller who sent us this footage of a DFDS Seaways ferry breaking free from its moorings on the River Tyne in North Shields yesterday afternoon.

At the time winds were gusting up to 60mph.

No one was hurt.

The weather delayed departure of the ferry for Amsterdam.

She managed to leave North Shields just after 3am this morning - original departure was planned for 00:31.

DFDS Seaways sent ITV Tyne Tees this statement:

Strong winds have been bringing problems across the region. Among the issues reported:

• North Yorkshire Police called to numerous reports on trees which have blown over
• Tyne and Wear Fire Service dealing with trees, roofs and a chimney which posed a danger as a result of the weather
• Northern Powergrid dealing with a number of power cuts, including the NE19 and NE48 postcode areas of Northumberland
• Delays of up to 45 minutes on Northern Rail services between Newcastle and Carlisle
• Delays on the Tyne and Wear Metro between Chillingham Road and St James due to obstruction on the line

Winds are now easing, and earlier restrictions on the A19 Tees Viaduct and the A66 have now been lifted.