A school was closed for two days after high winds blew sections of the roof into the playground.

Hillyfield Academy’s Park site has been shut since yesterday morning after overnight winds seriously damaged the building.

Sections of the roof landed in the playground and the car park.

Following a meeting early in morning the school decided it was not safe to allow children or staff to come in.

Head of school Matt O’Dowda said: “Overnight on Wednesday the high winds lifted a section of the roof.

“We had a meeting with the architects and they couldn’t guarantee that other sections wouldn’t be dislodged.

“Because we couldn’t guarantee we could get safely in and out we could not allow anyone to come in.”

A scaffolding company is working over the weekend to deal with the problem and the school is expected to be opened on Monday.

Parents of all 280 children were informed before school started on Thursday morning.