Chaos as thunderstorms hit Shropshire
[gallery] Fallen trees and floods brought chaos to parts of Shropshire as thunderstorms hit the region.
A sycamore tree smashed into a parked car during high winds in Albrighton and a van became stuck fast in rising waters in a ford in the village of Trescott, near Bridgnorth.
There were also delays on trains in the county when a tree fell onto the line in Ludlow. Violent storms caused the problems yesterday afternoon.
Several branches of a sycamore tree fell in Ashgrove, Albrighton, damaging cars.
The drama happened in an area where schoolchildren were due to walk home just 20 minutes later.
Jo Gilbert, whose Ford Puma was crushed by one of the branches, said: "I was sat in the front room by the window and the wind picked up and I went in the back to let my dogs in because I thought they would be scared and when we came back through to see a massive tree branch had fallen right through the back window of my car.
"I was a pretty shocked. My neighbour saw what had happened and said he had never seen anything like that before."
Vernon Doonam, an Albrighton resident was just minutes away when his daughter, whose car was parked in Ashgrove, called him to go and check on the vehicle.
He said: "I went round to see if my daughter's car is all right and it was all chaotic, there was a local fellow with his chainsaw sawing up branches to clear the road.
"One car was crushed and the tree now looks distinctly bare."
A major clean-up operation was launched in Albrighton this morning. Ed Lewis, director of Lewis Arborcare Ltd, and his team were called to the scene to clear away the debris.
He said: "I'd never seen anything like it. There were fallen trees and branches all over Ashgrove and around five or six damaged cars. One car was completely crushed- it was quite shocking. This kind of weather can be dangerous to residents, it's a major clean-up effort for us."
Yesterday trains between Shrewsbury and Hereford were delayed for up to 25 minutes as a tree fell onto the line at Ludlow.
The tree fell on to the southbound line at a tunnel south of Ludlow station at about 3.10pm yesterday afternoon, but was cleared within 35 minutes.
This morning The Astbury golf course at Bridgnorth tweeted:
