Wiltshire Police have had nearly 40 reports of trees being brought down by the high winds overnight.

Police took 37 calls from members of the public between midnight and 8.30am telling them trees had either blocked roads, partially blocked roads or had come down during the blustery conditions.  

The areas/roads affected by trees being blown down were as follows;

1. Salthrop, Bassett Down, near Swindon - tree blocking road
2. Doncombe Hill, near Corsham - tree blocking road
3. Church Street, Purton - tree blocking road
4. Liddington Hill, near Swindon - tree blocking road
5. Stanton St Quinton, A429, near Chippenham - tree obstructing road
6. Castle Combe, B4039 - tree blocking road
7. Chippenham, A350 - tree obstructing road
8. Newent, B4014, near Malmesbury - tree blocking road
9. Derry Hill, A342, Calne - tree blocking road
10. By Barrow Close, St Michael's Avenue, Highworth - tree blocking road
11. Yarnbrook, A363, near Trowbridge - tree obstructing road
12. Longbridge Deverill, A350, near Warminister - tree obstructing road 
13. Five ways, A365, Box - tree blocking road
14. Savernake, A4, Marlborough - trees obstructing road
15. Druids Lodge, A360, near Amesbury - tree blocking road
16. Semington, A361, near Seend - tree blocking road
17. Everleigh, A342 - tree blocking road 
18. Rockley Road, Rockley, near Marlborough - tree blocking road
19. Bowden Hill, near Lacock - tree obstructing road
20. Potterne, A360 - tree blocking road
21. Farleigh Hungerford - tree obstructing road
22. Hurdcott Lane, Winterbourne Earls, near Salisbury - tree blocking road
23. Crudwell, A429, near Malmesbury - tree obstructing road
24. Lockeridge (near Kennet Valley School) - tree blocking road
25. Chelworth, near Malmesbury - tree blocking road
26. Upavon, A345 - tree obstructing road
27. Grittleton, near Chippenham - tree obstructing road
28. Great Durnford, near Salisbury - trees obstructing road
29. Sevenhampton, B4000, near Highworth - tree blocking road
30. Shipton Grove, Walcot, Swindon - tree blocking road
31. Ford to Colerne road, A420, near Chippenham - tree obstructing road
32. Upper Seagry, near Chippenham - tree and telecoms cables obstructing road
33. Lushill, near Highworth - tree blocking road along with telecoms cables
34. Stapleshill, Freshford, near Bath - tree blocking road
35. Keevil, near Trowbridge - tree blocking road
36. Kingsway, Wilton, near Salisbury - tree blocking road

In most cases the local council were called to remove trees.    

Wiltshire Fire Service said that firefighters went to a home in Devizes town centre this afternoon and helped remove unsafe tiles. In Trowbridge a crew helped a householder remove a chimney pot which became unsafe in the winds.

One fallen tree meant hold-ups for rail services between Salisbury and Romsey in Hampshire, as did one between between Exeter St Davids in Devon and Taunton in Somerset.

Elsewhere busy road-bridge routes had to be closed, including the Dartford Crossing QEII Bridge on the M25, the Ouse Bridge on the M62, and the M48 Severn Bridge.

In East Anglia, overhead wire problems between Diss and Stowmarket were causing delays of up to an hour to services between Norwich and Ipswich.

To add to commuters' problems, a signalling problem led to delays to trains between Brighton and Haywards Heath in Sussex and there were long delays on the M5 southbound near Worcester due to an accident.

Met Office forecaster Kirk Waite said: "While the winds should gradually ease, it's going to stay a pretty windy day.

"The north west of the country is going to see some quite blustery showers moving in - it's probably going to see the strongest winds today."

Looking forward to Easter, Mr Waite said the weekend will be breezy to begin with but things should "gradually quieten down".