HIGH winds battered the region again on Thursday, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

The area was still recovering from the drama of Tuesday, when fierce storms brought down trees, roof tiles, power lines and even brick walls, when it faced a fresh onslaught.

Motorists were affected across Dorset as the strong gusts led to several main roads being blocked by fallen trees.

Just after 9am, police were alerted to a potentially dangerous tree overhanging the busy A31 dual carriageway at the Boundary Lane roundabout.

Officers found a 40ft tree suspended by the branch of another tree.

Although they did not think it was likely to reach the carriageway, they noticed another 80ft tree uprooted nearby that did pose a serious danger to motorists.

The eastbound carriageway was closed at Tricketts Cross and cars made to turn around at Boundary Lane.

The westbound carriageway was also closed for a time while a tree surgeon dealt with the problem. The road was fully reopened at 12.43pm.

The northbound carriageway of the A338 Spur Road was two-thirds blocked by a fallen tree near Blackwater Bridge. It was removed by using a chainsaw and the road was cleared at 9.10am.

A 30ft tall conifer tree narrowly missed a block of flats in Mallard Road, Bournemouth, crashing down on a communal washing line and damaging a wall.

Edward Davis, 67, whose flat is next to where the tree came down, said: “I was asleep in my chair. I heard a crash and watched it come down. It’s lucky it never came this way.”

Firefighters removed a tree that came down on a bend of the B3072 at West Moors at 8.40am.

Three trees were reported down in Sandy Lane, Verwood, while others were removed from Charlton Marshall, Canford Way in Poole, and Madeira Road in Bournemouth.

A phone line hanging down at Malvern Road, Bournemouth, and a telegraph pole blocking Browns Lane, East Stour, Gillingham, were dealt with by telecommunications companies.

The promenade between Bournemouth and Boscombe piers was shut to vehicles and will remain so until tonnes of sand can be cleared from the route.

Chris Saunders, seafront development manager, said areas of the promenade were “hazardous” because of the huge volume of drifting sand.

He warned the full clean-up operation could take weeks.

He said: “Our priority is to form an emergency access route that can also be used by pedestrians and cyclists along the 5.5 miles of promenade and then start to remove the several thousand tonnes of wind blown sand.

“With strong winds continuing to be forecast, more sand is likely to be blown up and total clearance may take several weeks.

“We aim to provide vehicle access to the Boscombe Undercliff car park as soon as possible.”

Some of the strongest recorded gusts of wind were in Southampton and the Isle of Portland, where gusts reached 62mph.

These eased off as the day wore on and weather forecasters are predicting a calmer, sunnier day today.

Driver has log smash into his car

MOTORIST Jason Coleman had a lucky escape when a large log blew into his windscreen as he drove down the busy Spur Road.

The 32-year-old Westbourne man was overtaking a lorry on the northbound carriageway of the A338 on Thursday morning when the log thumped onto the front of his Fiat 500 car.

Jason, a wealth management consultant, said: “It smashed square onto the windscreen and the windscreen bowed towards me with an almighty thud.

“The log then bounced off the windscreen and into the central reservation.

“I tried desperately not to flinch or smash into the lorry that I was overtaking at the time.

“The log was about the width of a person from shoulder to shoulder. It was enormous, I can’t believe it didn’t shatter my windscreen.

“I pulled into a layby about half a mile up the road and gathered myself together and pulled the debris off the windscreen.

“I can laugh about it now but I was very shaken at the time. It could have been horrendous.”