Fallen trees and travel delays as high winds batter the New Forest

SEVERAL trees were bought down and train, bus and ferry services were disrupted as strong winds battered the New Forest last Friday.

Motorists and passengers faced delays to their journeys due to the stormy weather, which saw gusts of up to 62mph recorded by a Met Office measuring station at Southampton.

Bluestar’s number 6 bus was forced to divert towards Applemore via Beaulieu Road as a fallen tree resulted in the A35 between Ashurst and Lyndhurst being closed in both directions for several hours.

Traffic was delayed both ways after an tree was reported to have fallen across the A337 at Clay Hill in Lyndhurst around midday. It was cleared about an hour later.

Another fallen tree on the A35, between Bolderwood Arboretum Ornamental Drive and Station Road at Holmsley, caused hold-ups in both directions. But traffic was still able to pass the incident, which was reported around 1pm and cleared within the hour.

The high winds forced Wightlink to cancel ferry crossings between Lymington and Yarmouth from 1pm to 4pm.

Posting on Twitter later, the cross-Solent service warned that its Lymington-to-Yarmouth ferries faced delays of up to 45 minutes due to the adverse weather.

Rail commuters were warned services could be cancelled or delayed around 5.15pm after a tree fell across the line between New Milton and Sway.

Although the tree was cleared about half an hour later, disruption continued until South Western Railway reported normal service had resumed shortly before 7.30pm.