More than eight million trees have been brought down and many are now threatened by another two named storms bearing down on Britain.
Forest managers warn that already “catastrophic” damage will be made worse by Storms Dudley and Eunice.
There are warnings that the heating climate is making our weather more severe and unpredictable, and that management and planting strategies must adapt more quickly.
Forest ranger Richard Tanner says that he’s never seen a real battlefield, but the west shore of Windermere now reminds him of photographs he has seen.
All around are the giant root plates of fallen trees, some the size of caravans, studded with rocks torn from the earth.
Tanner has looked after the South Lakes property of the National Trust for a decade, which includes the crested beech at Wray Castle. It was a champion, with the biggest girth in Britain and Ireland. “But Arwen’s 90mph winds were too much.”
