#StormGertrude has been officially named and will bring severe gales to parts of N Britain https://t.co/ziqeF8QF1E pic.twitter.com/FYjsmq4R2G
— Met Office (@metoffice) January 28, 2016
Gale force winds of 70-80mph battered Tyne and Wear this morning, with more to continue late into the afternoon.
Storm Gertrude, as it has been named by the Met Office, was the seventh storm of the season bringing severe gales to northern parts of Britain overnight Thursday into Friday.
The storm has caused panic and disruption across the North East.
Late this morning, a woman and her daughter were trapped after a tree was uprooted and crashed onto their car in County Durham.
Fortunately, the pair were not badly hurt. They received minor injuries and were taken to hospital for treatment, but the car was badly damaged.
The A19 has only just recently reopened after an overturned lorry was removed from the road.
Fire crews from Wallsend, Tynemouth, Hebburn and Gosforth alongside Northumbria police and the ambulance service worked to clear the road after the lorry was blown over south at Backworth.
Northern Powergrid have been working from the early hours of the morning to restore power to 7,500 of their customers after Gertrude caused damage to overhead power lines, resulting in thousands of power cuts across Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and County Durham.
Northern Powergrid are keeping a close eye on the forecast and will continue to do so across the weekend.
Metro services had been also halted between Sunderland and East Boldon, as windy weather conditions caused an obstruction on the over-head line between the two stations. Trains are now running again, but with 20-minute delays.
The Shields Ferry is also currently suspended.
At around 10am, The Great North Road had been completely blocked northbound by a fallen tree, causing heavy delays around the Gosforth area in Newcastle. The tree was cleared soon after.
Although the winds are expected to die down, motorists are advised to take caution in their travels for the rest of the weekend.
The storm has occurred due to a quickly deepening area of low pressure in the mid-Atlantic, forming because of cold air southwards from Arctic Canada and meeting mild air across western parts of the Atlantic.
As the differing temperatures came together, it created an intense depression towards the north of Scotland.
The Met Office highlighted Northern Ireland, southern parts of Scotland and northern England as areas to give particular warning to.