Witnesses have described the moment a woman "near-decapitated" by falling debris outside a Starbucks during 90mph Storm Doris winds.
As reported earlier, emergency services were called to Wolverhampton at 11.43am after reports of a serious incident outside the coffee shop in the town centre's Dudley Street.
Eyewitnesses told the Mirror the victim appeared to be a young woman in her 20s, who had been drinking outside the coffee shop before tragedy struck.
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Kitty Jenkins, 38, a Holland and Barrett shop worker, said: "I was out on my lunch hour when it happened.
"A piece of debris from the roof just came down and hit her. She went down straight away.
"There was blood everywhere.."
Witnesses said the area was busy with shoppers at the time.
A 19-year-old student, who did not want to be named, added: "My friend saw what happened and had to go home this afternoon, she was in pieces.
"She said the poor girl was near-decapitated. It's absolutely horrendous."
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Rebecca Davis, a 40-year-old teacher from Wolverhampton, walked past Starbucks shortly after the incident and saw a woman receiving CPR.
She said the woman appeared to have been hit by something resembling a piece of roof which had fallen off a building nearby.
"I think the wind broke it and caused it to fall. I don't know if it was hit by something else or just the wind did it," she said.
She said that while the woman had been hit "right outside Starbucks", it was unclear if the debris had fallen from the coffee shop or from a nearby building.
"I don't think anyone else was hurt. It was a big piece about the size of a coffee table but I think it just hit her," Mrs Davis said.
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A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: "On arrival, crews found a woman who had suffered very serious head injuries.
"Sadly, it quickly became apparent that there was nothing that could be done to save her and she was confirmed dead at the scene."
The woman's identity or her age are not yet known with police in the process of contacting her next of kin.
A spokesman for Starbucks said: "We are shocked and saddened by this terrible incident. We are supporting the police with their investigation and our store will remain closed until further notice."
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A spokesperson from the Met Office told TheLADbible: "Doris is officially a 'weather bomb' because of the rapid deepening of pressure, or explosive cyclogenisis, it's been through.
"They occur when the pressure inside a depression falls very rapidly resulting in severe weather."
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The Met Office also extended its amber warning, which means there was likely to be damage to structures, interruptions to power supplies and disruption to travel networks as well as a danger of injury from flying debris.
Plane lands at Leeds Bradford Airport in heavy wind. Flights have been cancelled after Storm Doris reached nearly 90mph. Credit: PA
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Ambulances services across the country have seen a number of incidents related to Storm Doris. The North West Ambulance Service had been called out to reports of a man who had been hit with a fence, meanwhile in London paramedics were called out to treat a woman after a tree had fallen onto her car.
The Met Office has warned that Storm Doris will bring 'damaging winds', rain and snow to the UK and could cause chaos on transport networks.
An amber National Severe Weather Warning - in place until this evening - has been issued with winds expected to reach up to 80mph across large parts of the UK.
And, since being expanded southwards, the amber warning covers around 50% of the country and is in force from 6am to 8pm today.
Featured Image Credit: CatersTopics: Starbucks