EAST Anglia escaped the worst of the bad weather this weekend - despite warnings of 70mph gales and tidal surges.It had been feared that parts of the coast would once again be battered by severe winds and high sea levels on Saturday morning.

EAST Anglia escaped the worst of the bad weather this weekend - despite warnings of 70mph gales and tidal surges.

It had been feared that parts of the coast would once again be battered by severe winds and high sea levels on Saturday morning.

But, despite some heavy downpours spread over the weekend, the region escaped largely unscathed.

At Dunwich, where earlier this month parts of the Dingle Marshes nature reserve were swept away, leaving locals and their properties more exposed to the sea than normal, the shingle beach held firm.

Frederick Goddard, who has lived in the north Suffolk village most of his life, said: Because of the warnings and the problems we had on November 1 when there were strong winds and high tides I was concerned and I was quite surprised that nothing happened.

“We put the sandbags out just in case but everything was all right. It was very windy overnight but because the winds came in from the south it didn't have the same effect as last time.”

However some parts of Suffolk, including Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds, did experience heavy downpours of rain on Saturday afternoon, which continued throughout yesterday.

Phil Garner, from Weatherquest, said: “On Saturday there was an area of low pressure to the west of us that gave us showery rain during the day.

“It was breezy in the early hours but not quite as stormy as had been forecast - although along the cost there were gusts of up to 45mph.

“Unfortunately by Sunday the showers had aligned themselves in a line across the county to that while some places such as north Suffolk escaped with quite reasonable conditions, other places such as Bury St Edmunds and Ipswich experienced heavier showers and even some rumbles of thunder.”

In Essex, a road was blocked yesterday after a tree was struck by lightning and fell across both lanes.

Police were called to Church Road, Fordham Heath, near Colchester, at just after 10am and it took an hour to clear the road where the oak tree had fallen.

Heavy rain was also blamed for an accident on the A12 which saw both carriageways blocked. A driver told police he had aquaplaned on surface water close to the Stanway exit on the London-bound carriageway.

His car, which contained two passengers, went up an embankment and slid back down again on its side.

Both lanes of the A12 were closed while police dealt with the accident which happened at 1.10pm on Saturday.

Mr Garner said the outlook for this week was changeable and there would be a continuation of the autumnal weather of the last three weeks.