Fallen trees, destroyed beach huts, power cuts and flooding as Storms Eunice and Franklin batter the New Forest and Christchurch

STRONG winds brought down dozens of trees, destroyed beach huts and cut power to many homes as a result of Storms Eunice and Franklin battering the New Forest and Christchurch.

Travel chaos continued throughout the weekend, with roads blocked by fallen trees, branches and debris – and people still being urged not to travel on the railway today (Monday).

As previously reported by the A&T, the Met Office issued a rare red weather warning as Storm Eunice brought gusts of around 90mph to the area on Friday.

On Thursday a major incident was declared by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Local Resilience Forum, and this remained in place until Saturday morning.

Extreme demand on its 999 call centre prompted South Central Ambulance Service to declare a critical incident on Friday afternoon.

Hordle Cliff beach has remained closed by New Forest District Council after several beach huts were destroyed or damaged.

An NFDC Twitter post on Friday said: “Beach hut owners will be contacted next week and are advised not to visit their huts until further notice.”

Both NFDC and Forestry England have urged people to stay away from coastal and Forest areas until tomorrow due to the high risk posed by both Storms Eunice and Franklin.

A yellow Met Office warning for wind remains in place today as Storm Franklin continues to make its presence felt.

Widespread power cuts have been reported across the New Forest since Friday, including in Brockenhurst, Keyhaven, East Boldre and Pilley.

Communities were said to have rallied round to support each other as Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks engineers sought to tackle the issues.

It's understood the landlord of the Fleur de Lys pub in Pilley offered hot meals to some of those affected.

Having suspended a number of services on Friday, South Western Railway is today urging people not to travel.

Storm Eunice brought an “unprecedented” level of incidents to Hampshire’s roads on Friday, according to the county council.

Cllr Russell Oppenheimer, who is responsible for highways operations, said: “On the day of Storm Eunice, we have received over 1,000 reports of issues on our roads – double what would normally be expected for a typical weather event.

“By 5pm this evening, our highways crews had dealt with well over 600 tree-related issues across the county.”

Tree falls in the New Forest on Friday included one that blocked the A35 Southampton Road at Ashurst in both directions between Ashurst Lodge and New Forest Golf Club between 10.30am and 12.30pm.

The A336 Ringwood Road at Netley Marsh was also blocked both ways at Woodlands Road from around midday until NFDC teams cleared the tree about five hours later.

The HOPE charity shop in Station Road, New Milton, was forced to close early on Friday as the winds brought roof tiles crashing down and started to lift its signage away.

A mobile home was blown into a field by the car park for Hurst Castle at Milford.

Damage also forced the closure of Lymington Town Hall's public car park in Avenue Road for the weekend for safety reasons.

HCC also kept many of its libraries open until 4pm on Friday to provide warmth, refuge and internet connectivity to the public, while library fines were suspended.

Disruption has continued today with Storm Franklin bringing down more trees, including one that blocked the A337 between Beechwood Road and Pikes Hill at Cadnam in both directions between 7am and 8.45am.

Severe flooding caused by Storm Eunice on Friday resulted in Mudeford Quay being closed to the public.

A Dorset Police Facebook post said: “Although it may look exciting, Storm Eunice is causing extremely dangerous high winds, tides and swells at the quay, causing fast-flowing waves to come over the wall into the car park, and even over cars!

“Chichester Way leading to the quay is also completely flooded.”

Trees brought down across the Christchurch area on Friday included one left resting against BCP Council’s closed Christchurch Civic Offices.

That day the council responded to more than 140 reports of fallen trees, as well as incidents of flooding.

Chris Saunders, from incident command and director of destination and culture, said: “We are pleased to see the majority of residents listened to our guidance and stayed at home but today certainly reminded us to respect Mother Nature.

“At one stage this morning at the height of the winds – we had reports of trees falling every 10 seconds.

“Our teams in highways and parks have been doing a fantastic job since the early hours, going over and above to clear reports of trees fallen, and clearing the road network.

“Thanks to the amazing response from our teams including the coastal teams too, but it’s not over, there’s still more work to do. There’s the risk that some trees or branches which have been battered all day, might still fall so be careful when going out and about.”

Fallen trees were among over 300 emergency calls Dorset fire crews received between 8am and 5.30pm on Friday, as well as downed power cables and building damage. During the same period crews attended 22 storm-related incidents.

Friday’s storm prompted BCP Council to suspend all bin collections across Christchurch for safety reasons. A catch-up collection service of refuse (black) bins is due on Saturday 26th February, with residents asked to place their bins outside by 6am.