More than 150 highways officers worked round the clock to respond to hundreds of separate reports of damage caused by the wind across Devon yesterday, Friday, February 18.

Gritters have been deployed during the night to counter the drop in temperature, average temperatures just above freezing.

A significant amount of debris is still on the road network and Devon County Council is advising that people only drive during the night and early hours if only absolutely necessary.

Friday morning and early afternoon represented the "peak" of Storm Eunice in Devon, with wind speeds recorded of up to 100mph in places.

A Red Wind Warning was issued by the Met Office for Northern Devon and its coastline, while an Amber Wind Warning was in force across the rest of the county until late last night.

Since mid-morning yesterday, the Network Operations Control Centre received almost 500 calls and incident reports with highways teams and tree surgeons busy.

Across Devon there were reports of debris and branches on roads, flooding and damaged trees. In one incident, a damaged tree was tangled up in a power line; in North Devon, a barn roof was ripped off and landed on a road, blocking one of the areas gritting routes.

In Barrack Road in Exeter, a large tree was damaged and was only held up by a nearby street-light. Tree surgeons worked throughout the afternoon to make it safe.

Councillor Stuart Hughes, Devon County Councils Cabinet Member for Highways Management said: “I want to thank everyone involved including all the highways crews, contractors, tree surgeons and control centre staff for their hard work – either through responding to incidents directly or through informing the public they have helped keep people safe.

“The winds will still be quite high during the night and a Yellow Wind Warning will be in force throughout Saturday.

"Strong winds are expected in places right up until the beginning of next week.

“A significant number of trees have blown over and there’s lots of other debris on the road network. We are prioritising the primary salting network, but some incidents are still too dangerous to clear until the winds subside.

“We have extensive gritting planned for the evening and morning but because debris is still on the road, in places, we advise that the public should only drive if it’s absolutely essential.

“Please check @DevonAlert for updates.”