Wrath of the storm

Bus and coach operations were amongst those affected by the recent stormy weather. Alongside power cuts, disruption, property damage and regrettably, deaths, the hurricane strength winds of the St Jude’s storm also upturned a Beestons double decker in Suffolk. There were reports of a Wrightbus Gemini 2 narrowly missing serious damage in Green Lanes, London when a tree fell on it. There are thought to have been no injuries caused on the bus, a 221 route vehicle operated by Arriva London. Storm warnings were issued by a number of official departments, including TfL and Reading Buses, whose peak hour buses were badly affected by the gales. The operator said a number of early morning journeys were seriously disrupted particularly due to trees brought down in the high winds. In particular, a Pink 23 had a lucky escape when trees crashed down either side of the bus on Reading Bridge.