GALE force winds battered East Lancashire causing a lorry to overturn and trees to topple into roads.

Gusts of up to 90mph and driving rain spread across the region throughout today, prompting an amber weather warning to be put in place by the Met Office.

More than 560 homes in Whalley and Langho and 30 homes in Burnley were left without power for several hours as engineers worked to fix overhead electricity lines.

Blackburn Rovers training ground at Brockhall and Michelin-starred restaurant Northcote Manor had to get by with no power for around three hours.

The Met Office has warned East Lancashire is to face yet more disruptive weather tomorrow with a yellow warning in place for ice as temperatures tumble.

Motorists yesterday faced chaos on the roads as trees fell, blocking routes in Haslingden and Simonstone.

Drivers were advised to avoid travelling in Slaidburn Road over Waddington Fell, where the road was closed for at least an hour due to a fallen tree.

A spokeswoman for Lancashire Police said: “We saw an increase in demand across East Lancashire yesterday, with five incidents reported in the Ribble Valley involving fallen trees blocking roads and one road closure in Greenhead Lane in Burnley following a fallen tree and risk of flooding.

“It was ferociously windy but fortunately nobody was hurt.”

Two trees also came down in Bacup Cemetery and one of the Christmas trees outside Boundary Mill, in Colne, also crashed to the ground.

The driver of a HGV was trapped in his cab when the vehicle overturned at junction one of the M66, where it meets the A56 at Ramsbottom, shortly before 1pm.

Police said he was slipping in and out of consciousness as firefighters worked to free him.

The road had to be closed and traffic backed up almost to junction three.

In Darwen, the glass from a window fell out of a ground floor building on the corner of Knott Street and Railway Road, narrowly missing a pedestrian.

Letti Corbett, who works at Cameo hairdressers, in Railway Road, said: “A guy was walking along and the next minute, the window came out and he had to jump out of the way.

“It was really awful.

“If he had passed under it one second later, it would have hit him.”

Firefighters also saw an increase in call outs, with calls to secure buildings and equipment.

Shortly before noon, there were reports that a building had partially collapsed in Pritchard Street, Burnley.

When Burnley Council’s building control team arrived, it was discovered that part of a brick from a domestic property had fallen and the fire crews made sure the surrounding area was safe.

The roof of a storage building at York Nurseries, in Todmorden Road, Burnley, blew off at around 12.45pm.

One of the nurseries’ owners Claire York said: “It landed in the main road, but very luckily, did not hit any pedestrians or cars.

“It was unbelievable.

“It went off in one whole piece. It was lifted literally straight off.”