Worcestershire County Council Highways Teams battle through Storm Darragh to keep roads clear

The teams received 150 callouts to fallen trees across Worcestershire over the weekend, with many of these call outs involving multiple trees in the same location.

Storm Darragh brought 60 mph winds to the county from early Saturday morning through to Sunday afternoon. The council had ten tree gangs on duty at any given time at all hours working to clear roads and footpaths.

The storm hit the north of the county hardest, with reports of many of the fallen trees in the Kidderminster, Bromsgrove and Stourport areas, while power cuts were also reported.

Storm Darragh, is the second named storm to hit the county within days, following closely on from Storm Bert which saw much of the county affected by flooding. Flood alerts are still in force across Worcestershire, and flood defences have been deployed.  

Councillor Marc Bayliss, Worcestershire County Council’s cabinet member with responsibility for highways and transport expressed heartfelt gratitude, saying:

"Our team’s dedication to keeping our roads safe during Storm Darragh is truly remarkable. They’ve worked tirelessly through recent bad weather events; snow, floods, and back-to-back storms to ensure our highways remain safe and open for our residents. I’m immensely proud of their nonstop efforts and want to extend a massive thank you to everyone who rose to meet these relentless weather challenges."

The council are asking residents to remain patient as teams continue to respond to reports of fallen trees. The teams must prioritise primary routes to ensure the strategic network remains open, but will of course, get around to all roads as soon as possible.

Worcestershire County Council remain on alert, if you spot a problem, please get call us on 01905 765765 or report it.