West Sussex highways crews respond to 195 fallen trees during storms

Wednesday, 28 October 2026 at 06:00

By Philip Keeler

Highways teams dealt with 201 emergency incidents across West Sussex as two named storms hit the county over an extended weekend.

West Sussex County Council says crews responded between the evening of Thursday 22 October and the morning of Monday 26 October. The total was 14 per cent higher than the number of emergencies the service handles in an average month.

Of those incidents, 195 involved fallen trees. Teams also attended two cases of carriageway flooding, two highway voids and two traffic signal faults.

The council increased its usual weekend emergency cover ahead of the forecast severe weather, with out-of-hours safety crews and tree surgeons deployed to deal with the damage.

It was the highest number of highway emergencies faced by the service since February 2026.

Councillor Erika Woodhurst-Trueman, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, said the response reflected both the work of crews on the ground and the planning carried out before severe weather arrived.

“We try to prepare for adverse weather as best we can to ensure the road network is kept clear, and our residents can get where they need to be,” she said.

She added that the council was working to minimise disruption and keep the county’s roads operating through the winter.

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