19th-century church spire crashes to the ground during mighty Storm Eunice winds

18 February 2022, 17:29 | Updated: 18 February 2022, 17:46

By Classic FM

@ClassicFM

Footage on social media shows the spire of St Thomas’ Church in Wells topple to the ground, as the UK and Ireland experience their highest wind speeds on record.

The steeple of St Thomas’ Church in Wells, Somerset, was filmed crashing to the ground on Friday morning, during a day of extreme weather.

St Thomas’ vicar Rev Claire Towns said nobody was hurt, but the village had been left “terribly shocked”.

“The building has been up since the late 1800s and the spire here can be seen from quite a long way away,” she told Sky News. “It’s quite a symbol around our community so we’re just really shocked that this happened. But equally we’re feeling very thankful that nobody was hurt or even worse killed.”

The 165-year-old, Grade-II listed church is among a number of buildings and music-making venues damaged by the high-speed winds.

Record-breaking 122 mph winds have left hundreds of thousands in the UK and Ireland without power, with millions being urged to stay indoors.

Some schools and businesses have been forced to shut due to safety concerns caused by the bad weather, and multiple music venues are now cancelling events which were scheduled to be held on Friday evening.

In London, the 20,000-capacity O2 Arena has been ripped open by Storm Eunice, with sections of its iconic tented roof spotted floating in the Thames.

A statement from the world-famous venue said that the building had been evacuated and that the safety of their visitors remained of “paramount importance”.

Lauryn Hill, and the American hip-hop group, the Fugees, were due to play the O2 Arena tonight as part of their 25th anniversary tour, but the event has been cancelled due to the damage.

Elsewhere multiple other concerts and events have been cancelled this evening, including opera performances of ENO’s The Cunning Little Vixen and Rigoletto at the Royal Opera House.