Storm Henk in pictures: The morning after the night before as high winds and heavy rain leave a trail of damage in their wake
Storm Henk left a trail of damage in its wake across the Bishop’s Stortford and Uttlesford areas.
Cars were hit by falling trees, hundreds of homes were left without power and rivers were on flood alert as high winds and heavy rain swept through the area on Tuesday afternoon and into the evening (Jan 2).
The Met Office issued an amber weather warning and police urged drivers to take extra care and avoid driving into flood waters. A flood warning is still in place on Wednesday for the Upper River Cam near Newport, with water levels remaining “high and steady”.
In Stortford, several roads were blocked by falling trees and the River Stort swelled as rain continued to pour down, looking close to spilling onto footpaths around Grange Paddocks and Castle Gardens. In Much Hadham, the ford at the junction of Malting Lane and Oudle Lane was more than 3ft deep (0.91m).
Residents endured damage to garden fences and equipment such as trampolines and gazebos twisted and flung around by the storm.
Hertfordshire police received a high volume of calls about fallen trees. In Great Hadham Road, a tree fell onto a car near the entrance to St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School which left the road partially blocked at around 4.30pm.
Police said the vehicle’s windscreen was smashed, but the driver was uninjured. “Officers attended and, with the help of members of the public who chopped the tree up, the road was clear by 5.05pm,” said a spokeswoman.
Thorley Lane East was blocked by a fallen tree, with the matter passed to Herts Highways, as was a tree leaning onto London Road near The Bishop’s Stortford High School.
On the old A120 heading towards Little Hadham and just past the turning to Bury Green, police attended the scene of an accident where a tree had landed on a car at around 4.20pm.
Said the spokeswoman: “Minimal damage was caused and the car was still drivable, but one side of the carriageway was obstructed. The tree was removed by 5.10pm.”
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said: “Our control room received 110 calls between 1pm and 8pm as Storm Henk brought strong winds and heavy rain to Essex.”
A large swathe of Uttlesford stretching from Clavering up to Great Chesterford suffered power cuts, with UK Power Networks reporting 533 homes without power due to a fault in an overhead high-voltage electricity line. Power was eventually restored at 12.28am.
Greater Anglia train services were disrupted, leading to delays and cancellations on the London to Cambridge Line due to debris on the tracks and flooding in parts.
A spokesperson for the train operator said on Wednesday: “Services are returning to normal following severe disruption caused by Storm Henk.
“Customers were asked not to travel between Bishop’s Stortford and Cambridge last night owing to fallen trees damaging overhead wires.
“Following a recovery operation overnight by Greater Anglia and Network Rail to restore services, all lines reopened around 9.00 this morning. We are sorry for the inconvenience caused to passengers.”
