Remarkable footage shows how a teenager was seconds from death after gale-force winds blew a 20ft tree in front of her car, smashing the driver's side of the vehicle.

Abbie McKay was driving to work at the Next store in Eclipse Park from her parents' home in Boughton Monchelsea, on Sunday morning when she noticed trees beginning to sway.

The 19-year-old, who also studies business at Canterbury Christ Church University, then turned onto New Cut Road in Grove Green when one suddenly came crashing down onto the windscreen of her Peugeot 308.

"It was completely out of nowhere, I mean you could see trees swaying but you don't ever think it's going to fall on you," she said.

"When I think back, I can't really remember it, I was just in so much shock and I honestly had no time to react.

"It's only when I watched the dashcam footage I realised just how close it was - had I gone a tiny bit faster or a tiny bit slower it all would have been so different, it's unbelievable, really.

"Afterwards I was just laughing and crying at the same time, it was a really surreal experience."

Police closed the road shortly after as the severe weather caused widespread disruption across the county.

Incredibly, Miss McKay escaped with only minor injuries to her neck and back and insisted on still going to work despite the ordeal.

Despite only passing her test little over a year ago, it was the second time she had been in a car accident, after a driver crashed into her on a roundabout in October,

"I guess I'm quite an unlucky driver, but after this one, when my parents came to pick me up, I decided I didn't want to go home, I didn't want to dwell on it all.

"I remembered how much pain I went through last time in trying to get a courtesy car and how much of a stress it all is and just wanted to put it out of my mind for a bit.

"Everyone I've shown the footage to has said how lucky I was and that it could have been so much worse if I was a second later - it's crazy."

The winds battered the county yesterday and today a warning has been issued for the coast.