Using Wikipedia as a start point:
An act of God is an unforeseeable natural phenomenon. Explained by Lord Hobhouse in Transco plc v Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council as describing an event:
(1) which involves no human agency
(2)which is not realistically possible to guard against
(3)which is due directly and exclusively to natural causes and
(4)which could not have been prevented by any amount of foresight, plans, and care.
(2) and (4) create a high bar for an outfit like BT that will likely have taken a risk based approach to whether a falling tree or whatever might bring down phone lines.
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