Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the extent of damage to forest and wooded areas as a result of Storm Arwen in (a) Wansbeck, (b) Northumberland and (c) the North East.

Using satellite imagery, Forest Research estimates that around 5,500 hectares of woodland was damaged by Storm Arwen. Of this, around 1,700 hectares was in England and most damage occurred in the North East. A map showing suspected areas of windblow is available to the public at https://windblow-assessment-forestergis.hub.arcgis.com/ and is being used to validate satellite imagery. A summary of this information will be made available in February.

Forestry England is continuing to survey the forests it manages in Northumberland and the wider North East and it will be some time before the full extent of damage is known. There are no Forestry England woodlands within the Wansbeck constituency.