Weather Warning!

Weather warnings for the coming 24 hours (Monday & Tuesday, 23rd/24th December) have put Buckinghamshire County Council teams on alert.

Warnings of between 20mm and 40mm of rain and wind with gusts of up to 60mph came from the Met Office, and the Environment Agency issued minor flood warnings affecting the River Thame and the Chalgrove Brook.

Adult Social Care teams are on alert to deal with emergencies if vulnerable people need moving to safety from their homes.

Transport for Buckinghamshire (TfB) emergency crews are standing by to clear trees and other debris that might be brought down on to the county's roads by gusts of wind. And gulley emptiers will be on hand to deal with roadside flooding.

One TfB crew worked through the evening to move a fallen tree from Templewood Lane, Stoke Poges, on Saturday. The road was closed for five hours.

TfB's Operations Hub, which co-ordinates calls and crews, is on duty to deal with alerts, on 0845 230 2882, and at lunchtime today (Monday) calls had already started to come in. This number operates 24 hours-a-day and will be answered by a TfB emergency officer outside office hours.

County Hall's emergency planning centre says the Met Office expects the rain and wind for the next 24 hours to be less severe than the storms of late October. During these storms TfB's Operations Hub responded to more than 170 emergency calls reporting over 200 fallen trees, which crews cleared within 20 hours.

After the October storms, Janet Blake, Buckinghamshire County Council Cabinet Member for Planning and Transport, praised the crews for a superb job in coping with so many call-outs in difficult circumstances. 'They have my sincere thanks,' said Janet. 'It's all in the preparation, and the way they were able to respond so speedily and effectively demonstrated how well prepared they were.'

The Met Office outlook for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day is for breezy days with sunshine and showers.