Three storms have buffeted this island in quick succession bringing gale force winds and driving rain. London got a pounding judging by the news but I was at the ancestral home in Hertfordshire. A tree in next door's garden came down but it was pretty much dead already- the greenery is Ivy. 

 Actually that bears out a point I made a few weeks ago [1st. February]. Ivy doesn't kill healthy trees but the additional weight and wind profile of Ivy on a dead or dying tree might be more than it can bear.

 Anyway I got the bow saw out and the loppers...