Giant beachball blows across Old Street

Ball rolls off roundabout in east London

The beachball: dethroned by strong gusts earlier this morning (@bern798/Twitter)

A giant beach ball broke free of its hoardings and bounced across the street in Old Street, London, as wild weather conditions swept the south.

One of the more surreal sights to surface from stormy scenes around the UK, the giant coloured ball, with an impressive 10 metre diameter, was blown off Silicon Roundabout and into the road.

It popped pretty promptly, and now lies deflated and dejected, in the east end gutter, bringing to an end to this mini adventure.

Deflated in the gutter, it appeared to shiver as the wind buffeted its slack sides (@lescochrane)

For more on the weather, see:

• High winds bring down crane on cabinet office in Westminster
• Two die as storm-force winds cause chaos in southern UK
• Tree falls down in Michael Fish's garden