A blue car with a white learner symbol on the top is in the left lane on Bretton Way. The car has been covered by twigs and branches, has a big dint in the back and drivers side door is open. Covering the car and both side of the road is the fallen treen. Under the tree is part of a lamppost which has been bent and brought down to the floor.Colin Jones
Dotty McLeod
BBC News, Peterborough
Harriet Heywood
BBC News, Peterborough
A driving instructor said he felt like the "luckiest person in Peterborough" after surviving a crash caused by a falling tree.
Colin Jones made an emergency stop on Bretton Way to avoid the tall plant when high winds from Storm Darragh brought gusts of up to 55mph to the city over the weekend.
After the sudden stop, another motorist went into the back of Mr Jones' car, causing it to be pushed into the tree.
Mr Jones, who sustained minor injuries, said had he been a second or two later, the tree would have landed directly on him. He added: "Fortunately my reaction speeds and hitting the breaks protected both of us [him and the other motorist]."
The passenger side of a blue car is on top of lots of branches and twigs. The car looks to have gone into the fallen tree and is covered by branches.Colin Jones
The tree, which also brought down a lamppost, blocked the road.
Mr Jones, who uses his car for work, believed the vehicle may be written off but said it was "wonderful" that it saved his life.
"I'm very fortunate," he told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.
"I have a little bit of soft tissue damage, but other than that I'm absolutely fine and just grateful. I'm about the luckiest person in Peterborough because it could have been a lot worse...a second or two and it could have been a different story."
Mr Jones added the incident meant he would be taking an early Christmas break from work.
Police in Peterborough attended several incidents related to Storm Darragh over the weekend.
They reported someone crashing into a fallen tree in Eastern Avenue, Dogsthorpe, and took calls for a partially fallen tree which blocked half the road in Stirling Way, Bretton.
Reports were also made of a large tree falling on a car in Westhawe, Bretton, and further calls of a car colliding with a fallen lamppost.
A tree also landed on a car in Thorpe Wood, Longthorpe.
A police spokesperson said: "While out on the roads, if you see anything that may cause harm to road users, please report it to us and help us in making the roads a safer place."
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