Transport authorities and operators have told passengers and drivers to stay home in anticipation of widespread damage and disruption on rail and roads from Storm Eunice.
Fallen trees blocked many roads that had struggled to stay open on road and rail. All trains in Wales on Friday were suspended in advance, while emergency speed limits of 50mph were in place around Britain’s railways, ripping up schedules.
Hundreds of flights were canceled as planes struggled to land in high winds, and ferry sailings were called off.
Rail
Southeastern followed Transport for Wales in closing its entire network soon after midday on Friday, after trees blocked all its lines into London.
Even before the worst of the weather on Friday morning fallen trees had already blocked one of the biggest commuter networks, South Western Railway, in many places.
Around the UK, the speed restrictions – reducing the danger from striking debris blown on to tracks or fallen trees – meant only a few trains were running on the main intercity routes between London, Manchester and Glasgow on the west coast line, and south of York on the east coast.
Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry and Great Western services were all reduced, with some branch lines closed entirely in Devon and Cornwall, where Eunice was expected to hit severely. All services from mainline London stations including Waterloo and Euston were suspended in the afternoon, while most trains from Paddington were also halted. Almost all operators across England had advised against travel.
Despite snow in Scotland, ScotRail, which was badly affected by Storm Dudley earlier this week, was planning to run services but told passengers to check before travelling.
Public transport authorities in Manchester and London, to where the Met Office extended its red weather warning on Friday, urged people to avoid non-essential journeys. Transport for London said London Overground services were disrupted by high winds in the morning, and tracks in east London were later blocked by fallen trees.
road
Road conditions were expected to be treacherous on Friday, from high winds and rain in the south and snow and ice in Scotland. Police in Devon and Cornwall advised motorists not to travel if possible, and fallen trees have blocked several roads in the south-west.
Motoring services, including the AA, were experiencing high demand from drivers needing rescue. The RAC echoed advice to avoid unnecessary travel and for people who did drive to go slowly, be vigilant and keep their hands firmly on the steering wheel, with tastes of wind up to 90mph expected.
Main bridges into Cornwall and across the Thames were closed because of high winds. Both the Severn crossings into Wales, the Severn bridge and the Prince of Wales bridge on the M4, were closed. Other roads including the A66 cross-Pennine route and the M8 between Edinburgh and Glasgow were partially closed.
Air
Hundreds of flights in total have been canceled at Heathrow, Gatwick and other airports. British Airways and easyJet both made late cancellations to a number of short-haul flights from UK airports on Friday.
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High winds were making landings difficult and BA said it was “experiencing significant disruption”. Several planes were unable to land at Heathrow at first attempt, including a Qatar Airways A380 that took three approaches to land.
Worse befell passengers on an on easyJet flight from Bordeaux to London Gatwick, who had to endure two aborted landings before their pilot decided to return to Bordeaux, landing more than three hours after takeoff.
London City airport has been closed.
Sea
Extremely rough seas led to ferry services being suspended around Britain. P&O Ferries suspended all cross-Channel sailings between Dover and Calais until further notice, advising passengers not to travel to Dover port on Friday.
Ferry services across the Irish Sea from Belfast to Scotland and Dublin to Wales were cancelled.
Isle of Wight ferry services were also suspended.