It was a windy night for weather, with gusts reaching up to 75mph as winter storms buffeted Britain as it slept on Wednesday.

The top wind speed was recorded at Great Dun Fell, in Cumbria, and a gust of 67mph was measured at Emley Moor, West Yorkshire.

Speeds of 50-60mph were recorded on lower ground.

The strong winds blew over a lorry on the A1 near Alnwick, Northumberland, around 3am, Northumbria Police said. The driver suffered minor injuries.

Meanwhile, an investigation was under way after a train collided with a tree on the Newcastle to Carlisle line on 11 January.

Northern Rail said the 11.22am westbound service was damaged, but no passengers or staff were injured in the collision which was not wind-related.

A Northern Rail spokeswoman said it was believed a tree being felled by contractors hit another one, causing it to fall onto the tracks near Ryton, Gateshead.

There was still some wind blustering commuters on their way to work, especially in the North East. However now the sun is shining over last night's buffeted counties, and no severe weather conditions have been forecast for the coming days.

Yet the weather is expected to get a lot colder, as the temperature falls in line with the chillier conditions expected at this time of year. Frost will freeze Brits on Friday 13 January, giving way to fog and and further algid conditions over the weekend.

It will feel especially chilly for many as Britain has been experiencing unusually mild weather for January. Snowdrops have been spotted, as well as daffodils and catkins. The 'early spring' was seen as nature responded to Britain's conspicuous lack of frost, which follows the news that 2011 was the second warmest year since records began.

Sally Webb, a forecaster with the Press Association's weather division MeteoGroup said:

"It will be largely dry and cold with the chance of a frost in a lot of areas, especially in the east,"

"Tomorrow will be largely dry, sunny with fog in places in the morning.

"The wind should drop off significantly."