A MUM whose house was struck by a falling tree during the St Jude storm ran to the conservatory to avoid the danger.

The tree crashed into the house as one of the worst storms in years struck in the early hours of Monday.

The storm brought winds of up to 60mph across the South East and the mum and her son got the fright of their lives as a mature oak tree crashed on top of their Bracknell home – piercing a hole in her bedroom ceiling.

Claire Murphy, 39, of Shelley Avenue, Bullbrook, witnessed the first pieces of the tree fall after being kept awake all night, and realised it was time to leave.

Ms Murphy said: “The branch would have gone straight through, I don’t even want to think about that. Thank God for whoever put the windows in.

“There was a crack about 5.45am and the whole house shook, I just ran downstairs into the conservatory; I thought that was the safest place. I called out to my son but he was okay in the back bedroom.” She added: “It [the tree] was swaying before it came down, then a chunk fell off just as I was checking on the rest of the tree from my window and I saw it was coming down.

“I’m waiting for the council to tell me it’s safe before going back to my bedroom. I’m worried about the ceiling collapsing.” Ms Murphy added: “I hope they take the rest of the tree down because I’ll be worried; it’s completely rotten.” The tree landed directly on top of Ms Murphy’s house, where she has lived for four and a half years, taking out her porch, guttering, door handles, roof tiles and smashing through the roof of her bedroom ceiling. Her son had to saw off parts of the tree so they could use the front door.

The weather caused traffic problems including the London Road/Swinley Road junction in Ascot where a tree came crashing down.

A driver had a lucky escape when it just missed his car just after 6am.

Other routes blocked by fallen trees included Foresters Way and Water-loo Road in Crowthorne Bracknell Forest Council says it cleared about 20 trees in total across the borough but said damage caused by St Jude was not as bad as in some other areas.

Loddon Bridge park and ride in Winnersh plus Emmbrook Road in Wokingham were closed due to flooding.

South West Trains cancelled services until 2pm via Wokingham and Brack-nell and then had a revised service, warning passengers not to travel. Its trains were limited to 50mph.