PaulSB
Squire
- Location
- Chorley, Lancashire
Over our local playing fields, the council has put fences around the very mature Oak trees because of something called sudden branch drop. It has happened in some areas where the trees are so stressed because of the long dry weather that big branches are dropping off with no warning.
Oak is one of the species most commonly associated with this. The most usual conditions for this are warm and humid weather or very hot spells. It isn't the tree choosing to shed branches but the stress highlights pre-existing weakness. Heavy rain after a long dry spell can cause this. Water accumulates on the foliage adding weight.
A young woman died in Witton Park, Blackburn about ten days ago. She pushed her child away from the falling branch and was struck herself. This was a beech tree, another species commonly associated with sudden branch drop.
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