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Large
waves break against barriers on the seafront in Brighton, southern
England, on October 27, 2013 as a predicted storm starts to build.
Bloomberg News
Worst Storm in Years Threatens Chaos for U.K. Commuters (1)
Large
waves break against barriers on the seafront in Brighton, southern
England, on October 27, 2013 as a predicted storm starts to build.
Photographer: Leon Neal/AFP via Getty Images
Millions of U.K. commuters were
advised to stay at home today as the worst storm for five years
forced rail operators across southern Britain to cancel morning
rush-hour services.
The country is braced for hurricane-force winds and
flooding caused by torrential rain after the Met Office issued
an amber alert and warned of wind gusts in excess of 80 mile per
hour (129 kilometers per hour) overnight. The Environment Agency
posted over 140 flood alerts. “We could see some uprooted trees or other damage from the winds, and there’s a chance of some surface-water flooding from the rainfall,” Martin Young, the Met’s chief forecaster, said on the agency’s website.
The storm, which developed over the Atlantic and has been strengthened by a strong jet stream and warm air close to the U.K., is forecast to hit London and the southeast around 7 a.m., according to forecasters.
It’s impact will also be felt in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, where weather services warned of high winds, especially along Channel coasts.
By 2 a.m. the U.K. Met Office said the strongest wind gust was 93.15 mph recorded at Needles Old Battery on the Isle of Wight, while winds were reported to have reached 61 mph over Plymouth. Gusts of 115 mph were recorded during the Great Storm of 1987, when 18 people died in the U.K.
Normal Trading
The coastguard said the search for a 14-year-old boy who was swept into the sea at Newhaven, on the south coast, yesterday was called off last night.U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron held talks with government departments and agencies yesterday “to hear about all the plans to ensure people are protected,” he said. A spokeswoman for the London Stock Exchange said it would operate a normal trading session today.
As well as the widespread disruption to rail services, London’s Heathrow Airport, Europe’s biggest aviation hub, has imposed a 20 percent reduction on flights before 11 a.m. today. Gatwick, Stansted and Luton airports are advising passengers to check with their airlines on the status of flights.
“Passengers due to travel on Monday should check the status of their flight with their airline before traveling to the airport,” Heathrow said in an e-mailed statement late yesterday.
Runway Capacity
British Airways, which uses Heathrow as a base, said in a statement it was canceling services on its European and domestic networks today, but long-haul flights into and out of Heathrow were planned to operate as normal. The airline, part of International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG), said any changes to schedules will be on the website.High winds expected at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport will reduce runway capacity and affect flight schedules, Air France-KLM Group (AF)’s Dutch KLM unit said on its website.
The U.K.’s Network Rail said there would be no commuter trains into London before 9 a.m. from the south because of the risk of fallen power lines or trees and debris on the track from the expected hurricane force winds.
Most trains are not being allowed to run until the worst of the storm has passed and engineers have been able to check railway lines.
“The timing and trajectory of the storm means that services are unlikely to be able to start up until 9 a.m. on many routes in southeast England,” Network Rail said. Even when routes have been cleared as safe to run trains, many operators will be running a reduced or altered service as speed restrictions remain in place, it said.
Rail Lines
Southern Trains and the Gatwick Express airport service from London won’t run “until it has been declared safe to do so,” because of the risk of tree branches and debris on rail lines, owner Southern Railway Ltd. said on its website.Southeastern Trains may need to start services later than usual, according to its website, while South West Trains said it will have a “significantly reduced timetable.
‘‘It is highly unlikely that trains will run before 0800 at the earliest and in some cases this could be considerably later,’’ South West said in a statement.
Transport for London said there will be no service on the capital’s overground rail lines until 9 a.m., while Eurostar said it would be unable to run any cross-Channel rail services before 7 a.m. to allow the high-speed train lines to be inspected.
Virgin Trains said it expects to run only a limited service, with the worth affected routes between London Euston and Rugby and the West Midlands and Rugby.
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