A house in Brentwood has been severely damaged after a large tree was brought down by the high winds of Storm Eunice.

The 400-year-old tree fell on the Essex property, smashing through the roof and into the bedroom where 23-year-old Sven Good was working, having visited his family home for the day.

UK weather live: Thousands still without power and train services cancelled

‘It all happened in a second’

He told Sky News he heard a “creak and then a massive bang and the whole house just shuddered”.

“I could feel the whole roof going above me. It was absolutely terrifying.”

He continued: “I leapt up, under a doorway – for some reason, the GCSE knowledge kicked in – jumped off the conference call and ran to see if my girlfriend and family were okay.”

Storm Eunice: Fresh weather warnings for wind in force across parts of UK could disrupt clean-up

Storm Eunice was not as bad as it could have been – but we might not be so lucky next time

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Luckily, no one was injured.

The house has been in the family for several generations – they are now waiting for a structural engineer and their insurance company to assess the damage, and then a crane will be deployed to lift the tree and work will begin to see what can be saved.

“My room has got no window, no wall. My sister’s room has got no walls on either side. We still have heating and electricity which is a silver lining but it was incredibly scary,” said Sven.

A white Mazda sports car was also hit by the falling branches.

His father, Dominic, added: “It was a very lucky escape.

“There was just this massive noise, crash, dust, it all happened in a second.”

Clean-up operation underway

Meanwhile, thousands of homes remain without electricity as the country assess the impact of one of the worst storms to hit the UK in a generation, which killed at least three people.

Wrecked cars and toppled buildings can be seen across the UK as the storm left a path of destruction.

Gusts of up to 122mph were recorded at The Needles on the Isle of Wight while London was issued with its first-ever red warning for wind.

One apartment block in Southampton had its roof blown onto a neighbouring house, while a Somerset church saw its spire crash to the ground in the heavy winds.

In London, the O2 Arena’s famous dome was shredded and an estimated 1,000 people evacuated from the venue.

Planes were left struggling to land at Heathrow Airport – with one even diverted to Paris after failing to touch down on the second attempt.

Read more about Storm Eunice here

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Further warnings issued

Further strong winds and icy stretches could disrupt the big clean-up from the storm, with further yellow warnings issued for parts of the UK, Met Office forecasters have said.

A yellow weather warning for wind is in place across southern parts of England and Wales until 6pm today.

This could prolong power cuts and hamper recovery efforts – and there is a “small chance” some roads and bridges could close.

Analysis: Storm Eunice was not as bad as it could have been – but we might not be so lucky next time

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UK Power Networks says even though it has restored around 84% of its network, 34,695 properties remain in the dark.

The extreme weather, it said, caused a month’s worth of fault in a single day.

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