28-01-2025
Kielder Forest paths and trails closed again after Storm Éowyn damage
Trails which were closed for up to three years after Storm Arwen in 2021 are inaccessible to the public again following Storm É England has temporarily shut all footpaths and mountain bike routes in Kielder Forest, Northumberland, after Friday's strong than 150 trees are blocking the Lakeside way, a 26 mile (42km) path which circles Kielder England recreation manager Alex MacLennan said: "Our advice is to stay away until our crews can get in there and get all the trees cleared."
"Some of the trees down were quite problematic, one was tangled up with power lines but that's been dealt with now," Mr MacLennan said. "Our paths and trails will be closed probably until next weekend and will reopen one by one, once we make sure they're safe," he added.
Approximately one million trees fell in Northumberland during the severe winds of Storm Arwen on 26 November of footpaths and trails were damaged and blocked, and the Lonesome Pine Mountain bike trail at Kielder Forest only reopened three years later in December. But despite Storm Éowyn bringing 96mph (154 km/h) gusts to places like Brizlee Wood in Northumberland, the damage has not been as severe."Arwen had already taken a lot of the forest out," Mr MacLennan said, adding: "So while we have a lot of trees down it's not nearly on the same scale."
Other Forestry England sites in Northumberland remain open but visitors are urged to "use caution"."Not only have some trees fallen down but others may be lodged up against others and could fall and some power lines haven't been checked yet," Mr MacLennan said.
Mr MacLennan said any decision to close or restrict sites was only made "to keep people safe"."We never want to shut access to the countryside, it's something we do not like doing but it's so important that we don't have a tragic situation which could have been avoided," he added.
