Plenty of damage was done by Storm Eunice in Bristol, with fallen trees, damaged power lines, roads closed and widespread disruption - but one person had a particularly lucky escape in the howling winds yesterday.
As the winds rushed through the city at upwards of 50mph, a towering tree in Redcliffe, near Temple Meads Station, became unstable. It came crashing down as employees who were working in the building opposite helplessly looked on.
As you can see in the photos, the tree was just "inches" from crushing the car parked right beneath it. Ben Paddy told Bristol Live that he was having a meeting with his colleagues in the boardroom of his office on Portwall Lane when, all of a sudden, someone caught a glimpse of the tree falling in their peripheral vision.
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He said that the wind was "absolutely going mental". Ben's wife, Etienne, commented: "We hope the owner bought a lottery ticket!"
Portwall Lane is located parallel to Redcliffe Way, just along from the Redcliffe roundabout, opposite the St Mary Redcliffe Church. Much of the road is pedestrianised, although there is still some access for vehicles, and the location of the tree was just in front of La Panza Italian restaurant.
Ben said: "Just in some's peripheral vision you could see the tree coming down pretty violently, and it was stopped from hitting the car by another tree." The photos show the fallen tree leaning up against the one next to it, preventing it from crushing the car.
Ben continued: "And it basically came down. It was around six inches from absolutely nailing the car."
After the tree came to a rest, he said employees came back and checked every 10 minutes to see if someone had moved the car, as they did not know to whom it belonged. Ben said that it was eventually moved after around an hour without suffering any damage.
He added: "We were just trying to get Friday over and done with, but it was pretty mental stuff. There was just a few of us in the office and we were pretty amazed [that the tree] hadn't completely impaled the car."
As Ben's wife, Etienne, added: "We hope that the person bought a lottery ticket - it was clearly their lucky day!" A staff member at La Panza said they did not know whose car was parked beneath the tree, but agreed that it was a "lucky escape".
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For the latest weather forecast for Bristol amid Met Office yellow warnings this weekend, click here
