Public urged to be cautious as Arwen recovery continues

The weather brought down thousands of trees across Northumberland and weakened many others, leaving some woodlands, beauty spots, parks and local nature reserves in a potentially dangerous condition.

Council teams have been working to carry out safety checks and clearing dangerous and fallen trees across parks, country parks, green spaces, footpaths and the rights of way network to make them safe for the public. It is expected that due to the scale of the damage to trees across the county this work will continue well into 2022.

Druridge Bay, Bolam Lake and Plessey Woods Country Parks have now reopened to the public, although access to some paths and areas are restricted.

Tyne Riverside Country Park is open also, although the visitor centre/cafe remains closed.

Elsewhere, across Kielder, around 40 miles of waymarked access has been cleared, inspected and re-opened.

Meanwhile many forests and woodland in Northumberland remain closed.

Cllr John Riddle, cabinet member for local services with Northumberland County Council, said: “There are still very real dangers presented by damaged trees or other structures and there remains a continuing risk that damaged trees and tree limbs could still fall and cause serious injury or worse.

“We’d ask people to check relevant websites before they travel, including weather forecasts, and not to enter any areas that are closed.”

Anyone who encounters any dangerous trees or obstructions when walking, cycling or riding can report these issues to the council via nland.uk/RoW