Storm Expected To Cause Major Transport Delays

Transport services including trains, planes and ferries are set to be cancelled or disrupted as a severe storm strikes the southern half of the UK.

Many operators have already announced amended timetables or cancellations ahead of expected high winds and heavy rain.

Winds of up to 80mph are predicted to hit Britain late on Sunday night and Monday morning.

Among the services that will be affected by the storm are:

Trains

:: Southern Railway has announced that it is “highly unlikely” it will run any services before at least 9am on Monday.

:: Gatwick Express services will finish at around 1am and will not resume until at least 9am.

:: South West Trains has warned people not to travel at all on Monday and will be running a “significantly reduced timetable”.

:: Southeastern Railway is expecting to run a reduced service and says that on some routes trains won’t run until after 9am. 

:: East Coast Trains will operate an amended timetable for Monday due to speed restrictions that will be in force south of York Station.

:: Greater Anglia Trains has announced that services will be suspended on Monday until 9am.

:: First Capital Connect trains are not expected to run until 9am.

:: London Overground services will not be operating until after 9am on Monday.

:: East Midlands Trains – no services into or out of London St Pancras until at least 10am.

No services between Nottingham, Ely, Peterborough and Norwich until around 9am.

:: C2C trains suspended until at least 9am.

:: Eurostar cross-channel services suspended until at least 7am to allow inspection of high speed lines.

Planes

:: Heathrow airport has cut capacity for all airlines on Monday, including a 20% reduction between 6am and 11am.

About 60 flights have been cancelled and the airport recommends all passengers contact their airline.

The cancellations are a combination of arrivals and departures.

:: British Airways’ Heathrow cancellations are currently all from its European and domestic schedule. Passengers can rebook or get a refund.

:: Gatwick , Stansted , Luton and Bristol airports have not yet announced any cancellations but are telling passengers to check with their airline before travelling to the airport.

Ferries

:: Brittany Ferries’ services has announced cancellations between Plymouth and Roscoff; Poole and Cherbourg; Portsmouth and Bilbao.

Ferries also cancelled between Penzance and the Isles of Scilly.

Roads

:: The Highways Agency has issued a severe weather alert for high-sided vehicles, caravans, motorbikes and other vulnerable vehicles.

:: Both crossings over the Severn estuary will be closed overnight.

:: Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, the southbound Dartford Crossing, is expected to close in the very early hours of Monday.

However, the tunnels will remain open and operate a contraflow system so that traffic can cross the Thames in both directions.

:: The Sheppey Crossing bridge in Kent is currently closed due to high winds.

Source Article from http://uk.news.yahoo.com/storm-set-cause-major-transport-delays-174812720.html

Storm Expected To Cause Major Transport Delays