On 27/01/2013 12:25, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article
,
Owain wrote:
Doesn't look enough snow to be significant there.

Metro says: People living in the street said snow had piled onto a car
port at the side of the house, which gave way and brought the gable
end of the council property down.
http://metro.co.uk/2013/01/26/family...-snow-3367946/

which sounds more plausible as a cantilevered carport could pull out a
few bricks and the wall above would follow

Difficult to tell by the pic, but is it a timber frame house where the
brickwork ain't load bearing? If so, it wouldn't take much to break it.


Gable ends aren't usually load bearing.
The roof is supported at the ends of the trussed rafters.
Sometimes the floor is supported but not always.