St Jude hits West Country

The West Country is clearing up after a night of heavy rain and damaging winds, the strongest gusts in our region were recorded at Yeovilton in Somerset at 75 miles per hour.

Although it was not as bad as first feared, the storm still brought down trees, in some cases damaging properties.

The high winds and rain also meant trains were cancelled and widespread disruption for Monday morning commuters, Seth Conway reports.

Cornwall's coastline was the first to feel the force of St Jude in the early hours of this morning.

Thousands of homes were without power for much of the day, and one family in Camborne had a very frightening experience when a huge tree crashed into their home. Francesca Carpenter reports.

Devon County Council has reminded drivers to proceed with care tonight whilst travelling on minor roads.

The council said some storm damage may not have been reported yet, and have advised the public not to drive through flood water or fords with heightened flows.

Cattle in East Devon are struggling to find fields either side of the river Culm after the river burst its banks following the storm.

A 60ft oak tree, which blocked one of the main roads in Exeter, has been caught on CCTV falling onto the road.

Strong winds caused the tree to fall on to New North Road in the early hours of this morning.

Wayne Blatchford, whose house backs on to the road said: "I heard a crack, it sounded like thunder, and I looked put the window and the whole tree was in my back garden."

"It wasn't a very nice thing to wake up to," he added.

Click here to read more about the damage caused by storm St Jude.

Emergency services are still dealing with reports of dozens of trees down across the region with roads closed as a result.

Hugh Griffith, Highway Operations Control Centre said: "We started off with flooding, there was more persistent rain, and because of all the leaf fall that washed towards drains we had localised flooding throughout the evening and the start of the early part of the morning.

"But when the winds came through between 2 and 3am we started getting the trees, and we have had some very big trees fall down."

Roads in Devon are likely to remain closed for most of the day because of localised flooding, Devon County Council has warned.

A release from the council said although wind and rain has moved on, roads between South Molton and Umberleigh have been closed, because the River Bray has burst its banks.

The council and Devon and Cornwall Police are advising road users to remain stay alert throughout the day.

They advise not to drive through flood water, or fords with heightened flows.

For more information on road closures visit the Devon County Council website.

The Environment Agency has issued nine flood warnings in the West Country, smaller flood alerts are also in place across the region, following heavy rain and strong winds from St Jude.

• River Teign (Lower) from Chudleigh to Kingsteignton
• River Torridge (Lower) from Dolton to Bideford, including Taddiport and Weare Giffard
• River Exe (Upper) from Exford to Exebridge, including Winsford and Bridgetown
• River Tamar (Upper) from Tamarstone to Polson Bridge

• River Barle from Simonsbath to Brushford, including Withypool
• River Torridge (Upper) from Bradford to Dolton
• River Waldon from Bradworthy to Bradford
• River Taw (Middle) from Taw Bridge to Newnham Bridge
• Chiswell

Click here to see more about the effects of storm St Jude.

Despite delays and disruption to some services, First Great Western say trains are not as affected as they had expected.

Daniel Panes from First Great Western tells us more:

This video from the Met Office shows satellite imagery of the St Jude storm as it moves across the UK: