Hallowe'en weather brings the county back to reality

DEVON saw appropriately spooky weather on Hallowe'en night as the county was wracked by strong winds and heavy rain.

Trees came down on minor roads near Exmouth, Woodbury and Upottery as winds reached up to 45mph in some parts of the county.

But windsurfers and kitesurfers at Exmouth beach were determined to make the most of the windy conditions yesterday.

A spokesman for the Highways Agency said: "There have been trees down countywide, but that generally seems to have been minor roads or back lanes.

"There have been a couple of cases of flooding due to blocked drains, but the flooding has pretty much all subsided."

In the early hours of Sunday morning, Exeter had just over 16mm — or half an inch — of rain.

Byron Chalcraft, a Met Office forecaster, said: "That's quite a lot of rain for down here. There were strong gusts of wind up to about 45mph in well exposed places in Exeter and East Devon. It was the first really gusty wind event we have had this autumn.

"It is going to be generally feeling cooler this coming week. It will be very unsettled. September and October were drier and warmer than average for quite some time, so it's back to reality."