London Fire Brigade (LFB) were called more than 110 times after homes and businesses across the capital felt the full force of Storm Katie.
Since midnight yesterday, firefighters attended an increased number of windy weather related calls, including scaffolding collapses and fallen trees.
Other incidents attended by firefighters included a roof collapse on Haydon Road, South Wimbledon, a tree down on the South Circular in Forest Hill and a chimney collapse on Roxeth Green Avenue, South Harrow.
Firefighters were also forced to endure difficult weather conditions to rescue 13 people, including five children, from a restaurant blaze in Hounslow High Street on Sunday evening.
An LFB spokesman said: “Firefighters are always on hand should any buildings, hoardings or scaffolding be left in a precarious position and posing a risk to life because of high winds.
“Our 999 control officers have worked tirelessly to deal with hundreds of calls and get fire crews there as quickly as possible.”
Meanwhile air passengers were left “sick and in tears” as their flights into Heathrow and Gatwick were battered by the storm.
Travellers told how they feared for their safety as planes were hit by gale-force winds and forced to abort landings at the last minute.
More than 100 flights in and out of Gatwick and Heathrow were cancelled or diverted because of the bad weather, causing travel misery to those returning from Easter breaks.
Dan Prance branded his journey back from Budapest the “worst flight of my life” and said passengers were so relieved when they finally touched down that many burst into tears.
He said: “When we approached into Gatwick from Budapest the plane was dropping suddenly and swinging left to right.
“You could see from the windows there was a massive storm happening outside, the wind and rain was smashing against the glass.
“We got closer to the ground at Gatwick until the captain suddenly aborted the landing and we went shooting back up into the sky to attempt again.”
He said the plane circled for “a further bumpy hour” as air traffic control tried to find space at Stansted for them before they were eventually diverted to Birmingham.
Prance, who works in TV, said: “People then began being ill and sick. We eventually landed complete with a full round of applause and people crying and then discovered that we had in fact touched down in Birmingham, using Google maps.”
Arnon Woolfson, 46, was flying back to Gatwick with his wife and two children from a wedding in Tel Aviv when their plane was rocked by the storm.
The aircraft also pulled out of its landing at the last minute and was diverted to Birmingham.
He said: “It was clearly not going to plan. The plane was not just going up and down, it was going sideways. There were a lot of crosswinds - it was a mess.”
Giulia Cortigiano, 28, an office manager, said her flight from Bangkok only touched down at Gatwick on the second attempt after being hit by strong winds.

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