Storm Ciara: Busy Northampton town centre road still closed after Sol Central roof blows off

Horsemarket was still closed in Northampton on Monday morning as part of the roof of Sol Central remained dangerous following the battering from Storm Ciara.

The busy stretch of the A508 from the Carlsberg roundabout past the leisure and entertainment complex was cordened off northbound.

Police closed the road after roof panels blew off in 70mph winds on Sunday (February 9).

Dramatic amateur video of a motorist's lucky escape as a panel blew off and missed their car by inches has gone viral, even posted on news sites in Canada.

The 360 Play centre at Rushden Lakes is also closed on Monday after structural damage, although the Cineworld cinema advised film-goers to check its Facebook page to see if screenings can go ahead.

Train operator London Northwestern Railway is running a near normal service from Northampton to London in the Monday morning rush hour but services to the North West are terminating at Birmingham New Street because of flooding.

Around 1,500 properties around Northampton were left without electricity as Storm Ciara ripped through the county, downing trees and damaging properties.

More than 570 properties in Brixworth and another 550 in Bugbrooke were the worst areas affected by power cuts although Western Power Distributors engineers had all but a handful of back online by 8pm last night.

An overturned lorry blocked two lanes of the M1 northbound between Milton Keynes and Northampton for more than 12 hours as Highways England had to wait more than 12 hours before winds dropped enough for them to get the vehicle upright and open all three lanes in time for the Monday morning rush-hour.

The A14 was shut westbound for more than eight hours after another HGV ended up on its side between Thrapston and Islip while police and county highways worked to clear fallen trees blocking the A45 and A43 in Northampton and the A5 at Towcester.