Tottenham Court Road in central London
(Picture: Google Maps)Huge Christmas decorations in Tottenham Court Road caused havoc on Tuesday when they blew down and bounced along the street as Storm Claudio battered the capital.
Footage captured in the early hours of Tuesday showed two huge mirrored baubles blowing down the famous shopping road in central London - a scene social media users described as “like something from a film”.
The clip - taken outside Centre Point, by Tottenham Court tube station - shows one of the giant baubles hitting a lamppost before being lifted into the air by high winds, and bouncing off down the street.
It is soon followed by another still lit from inside, as winds roar in the background.
Passersby can be seen stopping to watch the strange scene, while motorists brake to a halt to avoid the plastic baubles.
The footage soon went viral on social media, where users compared it to “a giant game of pinball” or a scene from a disaster movie.
“Imagine you’re casually walking by and a fat ball like that is coming right at you,” said TikTok user Anastasia.
“And THAT’S why you don’t, put the Christmas decorations up early,” joked Twitter user Robert Bailey.
It is understood the baubles were brought under control soon after the footage was captured.
The incident came the day before Oxford Street’s annual Christmas light switch-on, which is due to take place on Wednesday and is expected to attract huge crowds.
A yellow Met Office weather warning was in place on Monday as southern England was battered by Storm Claudio.
Southern areas including London could see gusts of up to 60mph amid heavy showers on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Environment Agency has also issued 49 flood alerts across much of central England, from Middlesbrough down to Cheltenham.
