Girl fighting for her life after getting hit by part of a school roof that collapsed

A schoolgirl is fighting for her life after part of a school ceiling collapsed on her in an incident thought to be linked to Storm Doris.

The girl, who has not been named, was in the sports hall with around 40 other children at Southwood Middle School in Milton Keynes at 3.30pm (23rd February), when a large patch of ceiling fell down. Another child was slightly injured and the school was sealed off as safety inspectors examined the scene.

Thames Valley's Local Policing Commander for Milton Keynes, Vince Grey said: "Our thoughts are with the child and their family at this extremely difficult time. It is possible that the collapse of the ceiling was caused by the adverse weather conditions that the country has been experiencing overnight and into today."

According to the BBC, Grey added: "We will be conducting a joint-investigation with Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service to determine the cause. There is a cordon in place within the school but no other buildings have been affected and there are no road closures in place at this time."

In a statement on its website the school said: "Unfortunately there has been an incident at Southwood School today where a part of the internal ceiling of the hall has fallen. We have been checked by Health and Safety officers who have confirmed that the building is safe, but obviously the hall will be out of use for some time." The school said it will open as usual on Friday (24 February).

Storm Doris has wreaked havoc across the UK with 100mph gusts of wind, heavy snow in Scotland and trees and power lines brought down. Tens of thousands of homes have suffered from power cuts, although many have now been restored.

A woman was killed by flying debris in Wolverhampton and a man was seriously injured by debris at Victoria Station in London. Many flights and train services have also been cancelled in what the Met Office has called a "weather bomb."