Over 1,000 calls to emergency helpline as storm battered Norfolk

A photo from the cab of a tractor, showing a big pile of sand piled up on a road
At Bacton sand formed huge drifts on the coast road Credit: Norfolk County Council

Over 1,000 incidents were reported to Norfolk County Council's emergency helpline during the weekend's storms.

Strong gusts of up to 70mph and heavy rain battered the county, with hundreds of trees brought down.

The council have praised their contractors who worked throughout the weekend to clear up any damage.

Car parks merged with marinas on the Norfolk broads

Councillor Martin Wilby, cabinet member for highways, said: "I’d like to thank highway crews for their hard work over the weekend as we dealt with an unprecedented number of calls.

"It was a remarkable effort which saw teams dealing with hundreds of trees and branches down on our roads and paths, issues with traffic lights and damaged streetlights, and flash flooding caused by the sudden and prolonged rainfall.

"The majority of our roads are now open as usual, however due to the severity of the storm we will be continuing the clear up operation over the coming days."

The North Norfolk Railway had to clear several trees from the line over the weekend Credit: Stuart Clarke

The storm resulted in travel disruption, with the rail line between Sheringham and Norwich suspended for much of Friday and Saturday.

Meanwhile at the preserved North Norfolk Railway, trees had to be cleared from the line before services could run on Saturday.

Elsewhere in the region, the Harwich Harbour foot ferry sank due to the stormy weather.