Emergency Tree Work & Storm Damage in Greater Manchester
A split trunk, a hanging limb or a tree down on the fence: call us and we’ll get to you as fast as we can, same day where we can. We make it safe first and sort the rest after.
Emergency Tree Work & Storm Damage
Storm damage does strange things to a tree. A split trunk, a limb half torn off, a whole tree pushed over onto a fence or a shed: none of it is stable, and the tension locked in the wood is exactly what makes a damaged tree dangerous to touch. Dragging a hung-up branch down with a rope and hoping is how people get hurt. Emergency tree work means a controlled dismantle, taking the weight off in planned cuts, because doing it once under control always beats a second failure.
When you call, tell us what has come down and what it’s resting on, and send a photo from a safe distance if you can. On site we photograph everything before we touch it, because your insurer will want evidence of what fell and what it hit, and we can talk you through what insurers usually ask for. Then the tree work itself: hung-up limbs rigged down under control, trees lifted off fences, sheds, cars and drives, and the lot cut up and cleared. If part of the job can honestly wait for a normal appointment, we’ll say so, because a make-safe now and a planned removal later is often the cheaper way round.
Not every worrying tree is an emergency, and it’s worth knowing that before you spend money. A lean the tree has had for years is usually nothing; a lean that appeared overnight, with lifted or cracked soil around the roots, is a different matter. Protected trees have an exemption too: if a tree with a Tree Preservation Order, or one in a conservation area, is dead or an immediate danger, urgent work can go ahead without the usual council application, but keep photographs, because the council can ask for evidence afterwards. Where the work can wait, we check for TPOs and handle the paperwork with you.
- Storm-damaged, split and uprooted trees made safe
- Hung-up branches and hanging limbs brought down under control
- Fallen trees lifted off roofs, fences, sheds, cars and drives
- Everything photographed before we cut, ready for your insurance claim
- Straight advice on what needs doing now and what can wait
- Timber and brash cut up, cleared and swept before we leave
How It Works
Call us first
Tell us what has come down, what it’s resting on and if anything is still hanging. A photo from a safe distance helps us bring the right kit. We’ll tell you straight when we can be there, as fast as we can, same day where we can.
Assess and photograph
We read the tree from the ground: where the weight is, what’s under tension and what it’s pinned against. Before a single cut, we photograph the damage so you have dated evidence for your insurer.
Make it safe
Hung-up limbs are rigged and lowered, trunks come apart in sections, and anything on a roof, fence or car comes off under control. If the tree turns out to be protected, we keep the evidence that the work was necessary.
Clear up and what’s left
Timber and brash cut up and cleared, drives and paths swept, and a straight answer on the rest of the tree: leave it, prune it or take it down, with a free written quote within 48 hours if more work is worth doing.
Emergency Tree Work FAQs
As a rule the tree belongs to whoever owns the land it grows on, and if a healthy tree comes down in a storm the owner usually isn’t liable for the damage, because a storm is nobody’s fault. It changes if the tree was obviously dead, diseased or dangerous beforehand and the owner had been warned about it. Insurers argue those points between themselves, so the practical answer is: photograph everything, tell your insurer, and get the tree made safe first. We’re tree surgeons, not solicitors, so treat that as a rough guide rather than legal advice.
Often, but policies differ. Most home policies cover damage a fallen tree does to the building, cover for fences varies a lot, and some policies pay for removing the tree from whatever it hit. What every insurer wants is evidence, which is why we photograph the scene before we cut anything and give you a written record of the work done. Ring your insurer before we start if you can; if the tree could fall or drop a limb, making it safe comes first.
Usually not. Plenty of trees have leaned for decades and are perfectly stable. The warning sign is change: a lean that has got worse, soil lifting or cracking around the base, roots showing on one side, or ground that feels springy underfoot. If you spot any of that after a storm, keep people away from the tree and call us. If the lean is old and nothing has moved, it can wait for a normal visit rather than an emergency call-out, and that costs you less.
Report it to the council. Most run an online form or a phone line for dangerous trees, and genuine hazards get treated as a priority. You’re allowed to cut back branches that overhang your boundary, but you can’t fell someone else’s tree, council or private. If a council tree has dropped a limb onto your property, photograph it, report it and tell your insurer, and we can make your side safe and give you a written record of what we found.
Yes. There’s an exemption for trees that are dead or unsafe to leave standing, so urgent work doesn’t have to wait for the usual council process. The catch is evidence: if the council later asks why a protected tree was cut, you need photographs of the damage and a clear reason why it was unsafe, so we photograph before we start and keep the record factual. If a protected tree is damaged but not actually dangerous, the normal route still applies: a TPO application to the council, or six weeks’ written notice in a conservation area, and we handle that paperwork with you.
Emergency Tree Work Near You
We provide emergency tree work across Stretford, Sale and the surrounding towns. Pick your area for local details.