Flight cancellations and train delays: Storm Gerrit brings post-Christmas travel hell to UK

27.12.2023 - 23:51 / euronews.com / London St Pancras / London Bridge / Rebecca Ann Hughes

Travellers in the UK are being warned of hazardous driving conditions and disruptions to rail and air transport as Storm Gerrit batters the country.

Several flights have been cancelled due to strong winds, and train passengers have been told to avoid travelling in some areas.

Yellow weather warnings have been issued for several parts of the UK on Wednesday with wintry conditions forecast.

The Met Office has cautioned of strong winds, heavy snow and rain in Scotland, heavy rain across northern England and most of Wales, and strong winds along the entire south coast of England.

Here is the latest on the travel disruption affecting the UK.

British Airways has cancelled 18 domestic flights on Wednesday due to the blustery conditions.

The services affected are return trips between Heathrow and Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Jersey and Manchester.

Eight European services have also been axed to and from Barcelona, Berlin, Madrid and Paris CDG.

“As a result of air-traffic control restrictions put in place because of Storm Gerrit, we have had to make some adjustments to our schedule today,” a spokesperson for British Airways said.

“We have apologised to our customers for any disruption to their travel plans and our teams are working hard to get them on their way as quickly as possible.”

Passengers can request to be rebooked on the closest available alternative flight.

The rail line between London St Pancras International and Luton has been closed due to signalling problems.

This is affecting all East Midlands Railway intercity trains, with most likely to be cancelled for the whole of Wednesday.

Passengers on Thameslink services - which run between Bedford, Luton, central London, Surrey and Sussex - have been advised not to travel between Bedford and London Bridge.

The company has warned that those who choose to make their journey will need to allow for at least 1 hour extra travel time.

The disruption comes as the line sees one of the busiest periods of the year with holidaymakers travelling between the capital and Luton Airport.

Gary Walsh, route director for Network Rail, has said engineers have been called in and are working to resolve the signalling issue as soon as possible.

Further north, the West Coast line is blocked between Carlisle and Lockerbie due to flooding.

“Delays are expected on our Scotland route and services will be subject to late starts,” Avanti West Coast posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Services between Edinburgh and Birmingham and between Glasgow and Manchester Airport have also been cancelled.

ScotRail has axed all trains between Inverness and Kyle of Lochalsh until January 3 due to Highland flooding.

Speed restrictions have been announced for nine other routes, including Edinburgh and Inverness,