First: do not go on the roof yourself
The most important point first. After a storm, roof surfaces are often wet, debris-covered, and potentially structurally compromised. Falls from roofs are one of the most common serious DIY accidents in the UK. Everything in this guide can be assessed safely from the ground or from inside your loft. Leave any actual roof access to professionals with the right equipment and insurance.
Storm damage claims require evidence of a specific weather event as the proximate cause rather than pre-existing wear. Source: Association of British Insurers (ABI) claims guidance
Ground-level checks: what to look for
Walk around the perimeter of your property and look up at the roof from several angles. You're looking for:
- Missing or displaced tiles — gaps in the tile covering are clearly visible, especially if the felt or batten behind is exposed. Concrete interlocking tiles on Leicester's post-war estates can be displaced as a group if the nail sickness was already present.
- Ridge tiles down or displaced — ridge tiles sit at the apex of the roof in mortar. High winds can displace them, and dislodged ridge tiles are a falling hazard as well as a water entry point.
- Tiles or debris in the garden — the obvious sign. Check if the fragments match your roof covering and note where on the roof they likely came from.
- Damaged or displaced chimney pots — chimney pots are particularly vulnerable in high winds, especially on older Leicester Victorian and Edwardian terraces where the mortar securing them has weakened over decades.
- Sagging gutters or fascia damage — storm winds can pull gutters away from fascias, and falling tree branches cause localised impact damage to gutters and fascia boards.
- Visible felt or underfelt — if you can see black felt hanging below the eaves line or exposed between tiles, the secondary waterproofing layer is compromised.
Loft checks: the most reliable early warning
If you have loft access, check it within 24 hours of any significant storm. You're looking for:
- New damp patches or water stains on the felt — fresh water marks on the underside of the roofing felt indicate active penetration. Old stains from previous events are brown and dry; new penetration is darker and damp to the touch.
- Daylight visible through the roof structure — turn off the light and look up. Any visible daylight (other than at the eaves ventilation) indicates a gap.
- Displaced insulation — significant wind uplift can disturb loft insulation, suggesting the roof covering took a harder hit than it appears from outside.
What to do if you find damage
If damage is limited to one or two displaced tiles and there's no active water penetration, call a roofer for a standard repair within the next few days. Most tile damage can be safely left for 3–5 days while you arrange a quote.
If you have active water entering the property, displaced ridge tiles, a visible hole in the roof covering, or a chimney pot down, call an emergency roofer immediately. These situations can deteriorate rapidly — water entering a roof void can cause timber rot within days, and a displaced ridge tile is a safety hazard.
What to tell your roofer
When you call, describe: the approximate location of the damage on the roof (front, rear, left, right), what you can see from the ground, whether there's active water penetration, and when the storm occurred. This helps us arrive with the right materials and assess the urgency accurately.
Storm damage and insurance
Most home insurance policies cover storm damage to roofs. Before any repair work, document the damage with photographs from the ground. If your insurer requires an assessment before authorising repair, ask your roofer to provide a written damage report. We provide written assessments for insurance purposes on request.
After the Storm: Next Steps and Timescales
Once you have assessed the damage from the ground and loft, you need to decide on the urgency of your response. Not every post-storm roof issue requires an emergency call-out — prioritising correctly saves both money and unnecessary disruption.
Immediate (same day): Active water entering the property. Structural elements visibly displaced or unstable. Chimney pots or ridge sections at risk of falling. Any situation where occupant safety is at risk.
Within 48 hours: Multiple displaced tiles leaving felt exposed. Lead flashing sections lifted. Any situation where the secondary waterproofing (felt) is exposed and deteriorated, meaning rain can enter the roof void without active flow through the main ceiling.
Within one week: Single or small numbers of displaced tiles where felt beneath is intact. Minor damage to verge or ridge pointing with no active leak. Gutter damage that isn't causing wall saturation.
Storm Damage and Your Roof's Maintenance History
Storm damage rarely occurs in isolation on a well-maintained roof. The tiles that come off in a winter storm are almost always the tiles where the nail fixing had already corroded, the mortar at the hip was already cracked, or the lead flashing was already at fatigue point. The storm provides the tipping point, not the cause.
This is worth understanding because it affects how you respond. A single storm-damaged tile on a 10-year-old roof with sound nails is a repair. Multiple tiles coming off a 1960s Leicester estate property in the same storm is a maintenance issue that will recur until the nail sickness is addressed. We always survey the surrounding condition when attending storm damage calls — repairing only the immediate damage without identifying the underlying vulnerability sets you up for the same call-out next winter.
Photographic Documentation for Insurance
If you intend to make an insurance claim for storm damage to your Leicester property, photograph the damage before any repair work is carried out. Insurers require evidence of the damage as it existed immediately after the storm event, and photographs taken after temporary or permanent repairs have been made are less useful for claim purposes.
Photograph from multiple angles, including any fallen debris in the garden and any damp patches or water marks visible from the loft. Note the date and time. Most home insurance policies cover sudden storm damage to the roof structure and covering, but specifically exclude gradual deterioration and wear-and-tear damage — your photographs help establish that the damage was storm-caused rather than pre-existing.
Key Takeaways for Leicester Homeowners
The most important points from this article as they apply specifically to Leicester properties:
- Leicester's housing stock is unusually old — a higher proportion of Victorian and Edwardian properties than the national average means lead work, lime mortar and clay plain tile are day-to-day materials in Leicester roofing, not specialist categories.
- The post-war estate belt is at a maintenance transition point — Braunstone, Eyres Monsell, Birstall and Thurmaston have nail-sick concrete tile reaching critical stage simultaneously. Proactive action now costs significantly less than reactive emergency repair.
- Free surveys and written quotes are standard — any Leicester roofer who won't provide a free on-site survey and written itemised quote before work starts is not operating to professional standards. Don't accept verbal quotes or estimates given without a site visit.
- NFRC registration is verifiable in 30 seconds — check before you commit. It is the minimum credibility threshold for roofing work in Leicester.
We cover all of Leicester city and the surrounding Leicestershire area. Free surveys, written quotes, and no work starts without your written acceptance. Call 0116 319 1348 for a free survey across all Leicester postcodes.
Getting Help With Your Leicester Roof
The most useful next step for most Leicester homeowners reading this is a free roof survey. A survey gives you a baseline condition report on your specific property — which maintenance is due now, which can wait, and what the realistic cost horizon looks like over the next 5–10 years. This is more useful than general guidance because every Leicester property is different: a 1930s Oadby semi has different priorities to a Victorian Highfields terrace or a post-war Braunstone semi, even if the symptoms look similar from the ground.
We cover all of Leicester city and the surrounding Leicestershire area including Oadby, Wigston, Hinckley, Loughborough, Melton Mowbray, Birstall, Blaby and Syston. Free surveys, no call-out fee, written quote within 48 hours of the visit. Call 0116 319 1348 or email info@roofingleicester.co.uk.
Last reviewed: 20 July 2026