A tree or a large branch that has come down in the wind.

What Saturday's wind is

At 03:00 (UTC+1) on Saturday 24 October 2026, the Met Office said Storm Boelo was moving in from the northwest, with rain spreading east across the country and the strongest gusts in northern and western areas. Presenter Honor Criswick put those gusts at 60 to 70 mph across Northern Ireland, Scotland and northern England, and potentially 80 mph in exposed parts of Scotland. She said the strongest winds run through Saturday into Sunday morning, with an amber warning for parts of Scotland, and that many southern areas turn drier on Sunday, around 13 to 14°C, while staying fairly gusty.

The day before, at 10:59 (UTC+1) on 23 October, the Met Office said Storm Austen's amber warning had expired. Deputy Chief Forecaster Mark Sidaway described an amber for Storm Boelo covering all of mainland Scotland, parts of Northern Ireland and the very far north of England, with gusts up to 80 mph in places and 50 to 60 mph more widely. The notice puts that amber from 9pm Saturday to 9pm Sunday. He also said Saturday's rain and wind reach all of the UK, and asked people to secure loose items and be ready for power cuts.

This morning's yellow is wider than Thursday's. The Met Office warning updated at 8:42am on 24 October 2026 gives the reason as an extension further south across northern England and into north Wales. It expects gusts of 55 to 65 mph widely, and 70 to 80 mph or more in some coastal and exposed places, those strongest gusts most likely across Scotland and the far north of England. The same text says the windy spell persists overnight and through much of Sunday, then eases from the southwest later. Greater Manchester is named. So is West Yorkshire, which is the county Leeds sits in. Birmingham is not among the areas named under West Midlands. London and Bristol are not on the list either. The warning map is what shows a postcode. A limb on a roof is a reason to sort the call on any of these streets. The warning says where the wind is strongest.

On Thursday 22 October, at 11:19 (UTC+1), Chief Forecaster Neil Armstrong said that with trees in leaf, fallen branches and trees could obstruct roads and railways. He was speaking about Friday's storm in the south. Saturday's wind arrives in that same season. Thursday's yellow edge is not this morning's. Read the warning for the postcode before you treat a street as outside it.

While the wind is still up

Stay inside. The Met Office page on staying safe in a storm says to stay indoors as much as possible, and not to go outside to repair damage while the storm is in progress. If you do go out, it says not to walk or shelter close to buildings and trees. Keep away from the sheltered side of boundary walls and fences, because that is the side they fall towards. After the wind, stay back from walls, buildings and trees that may have been weakened, and do not touch an electrical or telephone cable that is down or still hanging.

A limb on the roof stays where it is until the wind has eased. So does a tree leaning on the wall. The Association of British Insurers says not to do anything that puts you or the household at risk, and to return only when it is safe. Its list of maintenance before bad weather includes checking nearby trees and, where the tree is not on your land, contacting the owner. That is a job for a calm day. It is not a reason to be under the crown this afternoon. Photograph what you can see from indoors. If someone is badly hurt, or trapped, phone 999.

Any smell of gas is the emergency line in the lights go out in the wind, before a roofer or a gardener. A cable in the branches is that same note.

Which call this timber is

Sort the call from what the timber is touching:

• A branch in the wires, a cable on the ground, or the whole street dark: stay away. In England, Scotland and Wales, 105 is free and connects you to the local network operator, the company that looks after the lines. Northern Ireland does not use that number. The lights note records it. If someone is in immediate danger, phone 999 as well.
• A trunk or a large limb across a road or a pavement: an obstruction, not a gardener from this list. GOV.UK says to tell the local council about an obstruction on a local road in England or Wales, including overhanging branches. A motorway, or an A road National Highways manages in England, is 0300 123 5000. The same page gives Traffic Scotland on 0800 028 1414, and Traffic Wales on 0300 123 1213. For Northern Ireland it names the Department for Regional Development and does not print a number.
• A limb on your roof, or a tree against the house, with no cable in it: the buildings insurer if you may claim, then, after the wind eases, a gardening business for the timber and a roofer for the covering. You do not climb.
• A tree down inside the garden, clear of the house, the cables and the pavement: the gardening list, after the wind eases. It can wait through today's warning.

Other marks on the same house are other notes:

• Glass cracked, or a branch sitting in the opening: a window that has cracked in the wind. The pane is that note. The timber is this one.
• A tile, ridge or gutter out of line, and no limb still on the roof: a tile that looks out of place after the wind.
• The fence gone, and the house untouched: a fence that is already loose before the wind. The ABI says gates and fences are generally not covered.
• Water running down the wall from a gutter the branch has split: water sitting against the house after the rain.

A few small twigs on the lawn are not this call. Leave them until you can stand clear of the tree. The Met Office line about weakened trees still applies after the gusts drop.

If the house is damaged, phone the insurer first

The ABI says that if the building or the contents are damaged, contact the insurer as soon as possible. Most have a 24-hour emergency helpline. Have the policy number. Buildings insurance, as that page describes it, covers the structure of the home and the permanent fixtures. A roof with a limb through it sits in that structure. Read the policy. This page cannot say a claim will be paid, and it has no call-out figure.

Whether the weather counts as a storm is the insurer's decision. The ABI describes a storm as gusts of at least 55 mph, or torrential rain of at least 25 mm in an hour, or snow to a depth of 30 cm in 24 hours, or hail that damages hard surfaces or breaks glass. This morning's yellow speaks of gusts of 55 to 65 mph widely. A street inside that warning can still sit under the 55 mph line. Insurers also look at nearby properties, and at whether the weakness was already there. The ABI says policies are for sudden damage, and that storms sometimes reveal a tree or a roof that already needed work. A branch that was already hanging over the tiles is the question you put to the insurer. If the tree is not on your land, the ABI's maintenance note says to contact the owner. That contact does not replace the call to your own insurer about damage to your building.

A temporary cover, once it is safe to work, is there to stop the next rain spreading the damage. The ABI says to do that only if it is safe and you have spoken to the insurer, and to keep the photographs, an itemised invoice and the receipts. Home emergency cover, where a policy includes it, is a separate option. The insurer is who confirms that. If the insurer appoints a contractor, follow that process. If you are choosing a business yourself, use the lists below and phone them.

Who to phone once the wind eases

In the north, do not treat Sunday morning as the quiet spell. This morning's yellow runs through much of Sunday. Friday's amber for mainland Scotland, parts of Northern Ireland and the very far north of England runs until 9pm Sunday. Further south, Saturday's forecast has many areas turning drier on Sunday and staying fairly gusty. Book the visit for after the wind on your own street has eased. Describe the floor the timber is on, whether it is still attached to the standing tree, and whether any cable is in it.

Phone a roofer when the covering is broken, or a limb is still lying on it. The tiles, the flat roof and the gutter are that visit. You do not climb up to measure them. Open the roofing list, including London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and Bristol. Get contact details opens the list. It does not pass the job on.

Phone a gardening business for the timber on your own land, once there is no cable in it and it is not lying in the road. Ask whether a storm-damaged tree is work they take. The list is gardening and landscaping. A line on a card is not a statement that the business is a tree surgeon. Open the gardening and landscaping list and choose the city. London also has its own page. TrustMark is shown only when that record already has it. That line is not a recommendation.

A protected tree in England

GOV.UK's Tree Preservation Order guidance is for England. An Order made by a local planning authority prohibits cutting down, topping, lopping, uprooting, or wilful damage, without the authority's written consent, apart from limited exceptions. In a conservation area, a tree that is not already under an Order needs a section 211 notice six weeks before certain work, unless an exception applies. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland set their own tree rules. This note does not turn the England page into one rule for all four nations.

The same guidance describes an exception where a tree presents an immediate risk of serious harm and the work is urgently needed to remove that risk. Written notice goes to the authority as soon as practicable after the work becomes necessary, and the work stays limited to removing the risk. If the danger is not immediate, the guidance says the exception does not apply. Cutting down a tree that is not in the woodland class, because of that urgent risk, leaves the landowner with a duty to plant a replacement of an appropriate size and species. The same replacement duty is described for a conservation-area tree removed because it is dead or presents an immediate risk of serious harm. Wildlife laws still apply. The guidance says anyone who thinks an exception fits should take care not to exceed it, and may wish to check with a qualified arboriculturist or the authority first.

That is a conversation for the owner and the business, with the local planning authority. It is not a method for this afternoon. A limb already on the ground, clear of cables and of the road, can wait until the wind eases and that question is asked. This page does not describe the cut.

If you rent in England, tell the landlord

GOV.UK's private renting repairs page says the landlord is responsible for the structure and exterior. A branch through the roof, or a tree hard against the wall, sits in that structure. Contact the landlord straight away. The same page says to do that at once for a fault that could harm health, and it gives faulty electrical wiring as the example. An opening the weather can enter is that kind of report. Tell them which room, and whether a cable is involved. The cable is still 105. The landlord does not replace that call.

You should only carry out repairs the tenancy agreement allows. You cannot be required to carry out the landlord's repairs. Carry on paying the rent while you wait. The buildings policy on a rented home is usually the landlord's. A tree down in the garden that has not struck the building is a question for that tenancy. The gardener, if you are allowed to arrange one, is still a business you phone yourself.

That page is the England guide. It sends private tenants in Scotland to the Private Rented Housing Panel, and it points to different housing standards in Northern Ireland. Wales sets its own duties.