Britons travelling home after visiting family for Christmas were warned of delays and hazardous conditions today as Storm Gerrit swept into Britain with 70mph winds.
The Met Office imposed warnings across the UK until the early hours of tomorrow with the storm also set to bring three inches of rain and eight inches of snow.
Rail passengers faced delays from speed restrictions and line closures due to the severe conditions in Scotland and Wales, while those in England were disrupted by train staff shortages, track obstructions and late-finishing engineering works.
Meteorologists also warned of delays for high-sided vehicles on exposed routes and bridges, flooding on roads, possible power cuts and disruption to ferries and planes.
The Environment Agency issued 94 flood alerts across England as well as two flood warnings – for Gog Brook in Warwick and the Upper River Hull area of East Yorkshire.
The Met Office has imposed nine weather warnings today and tomorrow as follows:
- Rain – Wales – Midnight today until 6pm today;
- Rain and wind – Northern Ireland – 2am today until 10am today;
- Wind – Southern England – 3am today until 6pm today;
- Rain – South West Scotland and northern England – 3am today until 6pm today;
- Wind – Northern Scotland – 3am today until 11.59pm today;
- Rain – North West England – 3am today until 6pm today;
- Rain and snow – Northern Scotland – 6am today until 9pm today;
- Wind – Western Wales and North West England – 6pm today until 3am tomorrow;
- Wind and snow – Shetland Islands – 9pm today until 6am tomorrow.
ScotRail said major flooding in parts of the Highlands meant there would be no trains between Inverness and Kyle of Lochalsh until at least January 3, while it also warned speed restrictions would cause delays on nine routes until 9am tomorrow.
A wet start to the day in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, today before Storm Gerrit hits the UK
Police Scotland said officers in Dundee dealt with a collision on the A90 near Inchture today
The affected ScotRail routes were between Glasgow Queen Street, Oban or Mallaig; Inverness and Wick; Edinburgh or Aberdeen and Inverness; Montrose and Inverurie; Edinburgh and Perth or Dundee; Edinburgh and Glenrothes with Thornton; Glasgow Queen Street and Aberdeen or Inverness; Glasgow Central and Wemyss Bay or Ardrossan Harbour or Largs or Prestwick Town; and Glasgow Central and Carlisle.
Police Scotland also said officers in Dundee dealt with a collision on the A90 near Inchture today, adding: ‘Please slow down and drive to the weather conditions.’
Transport for Wales cancelled all trains between Llandudno and Blaenau Ffestiniog; imposed a late start-up for services from Shrewsbury to Swansea and Llandrindod; and warned flooding between Hereford and Leominster could cause cancellations or long delays.
Traffic Scotland said the A82 at Milton near Glasgow was closed this morning in both directions due to flooding, while Carmarthenshire Roads Policing told motorists that a tree had fallen on the B4308 between Cwmbach and Farriers which had also taken out a power line.
In Hampshire, Forestry England said all facilities were closed at the Alice Holt Forest site today due to high winds, adding: ‘We’re sorry to ask people not to visit Alice Holt Forest today.’
Met Office chief meteorologist Frank Saunders said: ‘Storm Gerrit will run towards western UK on Wednesday and bring with it potential impacts for much of the UK.
‘Winds across southern coastal areas of England will be strong, possibly peaking around 70 mph on exposed coastlines, but more widely around 50 to 60 mph within the warning area.
‘Rain is an additional hazard from Storm Gerrit, with active weather fronts leading to a wet day for many.
‘Snow is also likely to cause problems for some northern areas: only briefly for a few upland routes across the Pennines and southern Scotland overnight and early on Wednesday, but more widely to the north of the Central Lowlands later in the day.
‘Here around 10 to possibly 20cm of snow may affect some of the highest routes, this combining with very strong winds to lead to some difficult travel conditions. At lower levels a combination of heavy rain and very strong winds will dominate.’
Also today, rail passengers faced a series of problems that did not appear to be related to the storm, such as disruption on South Western Railway trains through Clapham Junction in South West London due to a signalling problem.
Those on Southern and South Western Railway also faced delays through Havant in Hampshire due to an obstruction on track in the Bedhampton area.
There was also disruption due to engineering works not being finished on time in the Nunhead area of South East London – affecting Southeastern services between the capital and Kent, and cancelling Thameslink trains between London Blackfriars and Sevenoaks.
The Environment Agency issued flood alerts (in amber) and warnings (in red) across England
Meanwhile CrossCountry cancelled services between Nottingham and Cardiff Central due to a shortage of train drivers.
And East Midlands Railway and Thameslink passengers were told a fault with the signalling system between St Albans and London St Pancras was cancelling trains.
Meanwhile officials at the Port of Dover in Kent said there was a 90-minute wait time ahead of French border controls for tourist traffic this morning, although the A2 and A20 approach roads were ‘running well’.
The Met Office said Gerrit – the seventh named storm of the current UK storm season – was named as a warning to people coming home after the holidays.
Its meteorologist Simon Partridge said: ‘Due to the extent of the warnings that are being issued, it was deemed that a named storm would be a good idea because it will highlight to the public the risk associated, particularly as tomorrow is likely to be quite a busy day on the roads with people travelling back home from Christmas and things like that.’
A storm is named when it is deemed to have the potential to cause medium or high impacts on the UK and/or Ireland.
The Met Office and Met Eireann launched the scheme in 2015 to name storms as part of efforts to raise awareness of extreme weather events.
Mr Partridge said wet and windy weather will cover ‘pretty much the whole of the UK’, with significant snowfall in parts of Scotland.
A yellow rain and snow warning is in place from 6am to 9pm across much of Scotland today.
‘There are wind warnings out for the south of England, across the English Channel coast,’ Mr Partridge added.
‘But we also have wind warnings in force for parts of western Wales, north-west England, Northern Ireland, northern Scotland and the Northern Isles.’
He said only the central section of the UK does not have a wind warning.
A Lunar halo surrounds the moon, as ice crystals in the atmosphere refract light above Whitley Bay in Tyne and Wear last night
Wind warning areas can expect gusts of 50 to 60mph, with up to 70mph on high ground and exposed coasts. Some delays to road, rail, air and ferry transport are likely, the Met Office said.
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‘In terms of rain, we have rain warnings out for the whole of Northern Ireland, western Wales, north-west England, and then there’s a combined sort of rain and snow warning for Scotland,’ Mr Partridge added.
Rain in the warning areas is forecast to be between 40 to 60mm, with the potential for 70 to 90mm in the western hills of Wales and the western side of the Pennines.
There is a chance of power cuts, as well as a small chance that homes and businesses could be flooded.
Anywhere above 200 metres (650ft) in Scotland and the Northern Isles is likely to see some snow, he added.
Network Rail Scotland warned passengers speed restrictions would be in place today and to check for cancellations.
ScotRail customer operations director Phil Campbell said: ‘Unfortunately, we expect disruption to our services due to the adverse weather, and customers can expect some changes to their journeys.
‘We will be working closely with our colleagues at Network Rail Scotland to ensure we are able to keep people moving as much as possible, but customers should also expect that their journeys will take longer than usual, and there could be some cancellations. ‘
The operator added: ‘We’re asking anyone with garden equipment such as tents, trampolines or furniture, to secure items so that they don’t blow on to the tracks and interfere with lineside equipment.’