Strong winds caused chaos overnight in south east London as buildings were damaged and trees were ripped from the ground.

As 75mph gusts hit London last night (January 18), trees fell onto train tracks and people’s homes were damaged.

One home in Henderson Drive, Dartford, had part of its roof extension blown off and left strewn across the garden.

Bricks from the loft conversation had crashed down into a new extension, causing tens of thousands of pounds worth of damage.

A local labourer spotted the 'council house' carnage on his way to work around 8.30am. He said: "I was just driving to work when I noticed the wind had blown part of the house down.

"The extension building was knocked down and there were power cables hanging down. The roof had fallen through, it had totally come down into the garden and a double skin layer of wall had blown down.

"I think it's a council house, there's definitely someone living in there. It's the only one I've seen like that but it'll be a big job to fix it."

Another homeowner had the fright of their life when a tree crashed into their home in Bexley.

A neighbour was at the scene at 6am this morning and said it hit their home at Bexley Park while they were sleeping.

The roof was smashed and left branches caught along the top of the roof, but thankfully the tree didn’t embed itself in the home and instead bounced off and into the front yard.

Pupils and staff at Woolwich Polytechnic awoke to the news there was no school today as the roof had blown off the building.

A section of the school had its roof completely blown off and strewn across the yard, with the school left not knowing if it will be able to open the next day either.

In Hayes Pamela Thurbin caught this picture of a tree that was felled in the storm on Mounthurst Road.

She said: “Fortunately it fell inwards rather than towards the road. The council have been notified and as it is blocking the pavement.”