STORM Imogen is continuing to wreak havoc across Cornwall: 5,000 properties are without power, fallen trees are causing problems on the roads and the railways are particularly badly affected with all lines in and out of Cornwall closed by Network Rail for a period after a passenger train hit a fallen tree near Bodmin.
No injuries were reported.
There were already delays across the network as trains observed a speed limit for fear of fallen trees on the lines – just what happened west of Bodmin Parkway during the morning, causing the stopping of all trains in and out of the county. There were already ongoing delays of up to 45 minutes between Liskeard and Par.
Elsewhere on the railways, the Liskeard to Looe line was closed because of flooding, and the Par to Newquay line was said to be closed because of a fallen tree.
Liskeard Police were reporting fallen trees affecting the A390 between Merrymeet and St Ive, Lamellion by Devon and Cornwall Wools and New Road in Liskeard, where an accident blocked the B3254 near Gipsy Lane during the morning.
Officers said lots of other trees were down across East Cornwall.
It wasn’t just trees causing trouble: debris from Saturday’s floods was added to, there was more flooding on the A374 at Polbathic, while in Bude there were dangerous driving conditions around Madeira Road and Marine Drive because of sand blown onto the road.
Cornish firm the Ellis Group posted a picture of an overturned lorry on the A30 at Bolventor, blown over by the ferocious winds. There were no reports of injuries.
The Met Office reported ’phenomenal’ seas of 13.5 metres off the Scillies.
Winds are expected to peak around lunchtime, but an amber weather warning remains in place until 6pm.