Christmas travel chaos as Storm Pia cancels trains and flights and closes roads
Christmas travel plans where thrown into disarray on Thursday when Storm Pia winds caused mass rail and air cancellations and saw lorries overturned on motorways.
A last-minute surprise strike by Eurotunnel staff also saw Eurostar and LeShuttle services from France suspended with trains which had already started journeys forced to return, leaving Britons stranded in Paris.
It came after union workers reportedly rejected a €1,000 end-of-year bonus and asked for it to be tripled.
Storm Pia brought gusts of more than 80mph, causing power cuts to tens of thousands of homes and causing major disruption as people attempted to travel across the country for the festive period.
Chaos erupted at Euston Station in London, which serves the West Coast Main Line towards Birmingham, the North West and Scotland, when it was closed to passengers after a fault on the line at Watford Junction.
Companies including Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, LNER, Northern, West Midlands and East Midlands all cancelled or delayed trains running in and out of London, with trains from London to Manchester and on to Scotland particularly badly hit.
Avanti passengers attempting to use their tickets to travel from nearby King’s Cross station with LNER were turned away.
It followed earlier cancellations and delays to Avanti trains between Stoke-on-Trent and Macclesfield/Crewe after a bag was blown onto the overhead power line.
Train operator TransPennine Express (TPE) issued “do not travel” advice to its customers on routes between Manchester, Liverpool, Preston and Carlisle and Edinburgh because of expected disruption caused by the storm.
Kathryn O’Brien, customer experience and operations director for TPE, said: “Our number one priority is to keep our customers and colleagues safe, and we will be doing all we can to keep people moving in difficult conditions.
“We are urging anyone travelling across the affected routes to plan ahead, allow extra time, check their journey up until the last minute, and follow the guidance provided.”
Network Rail said many services will only run once safety inspections have taken place, leading to some cancellations.
ScotRail imposed speed restrictions to its services and suspended services to and from Inverness and between Glasgow Queen Street and Oban and Mallaig, there are some rail replacement services amid stormy conditions.
Storm Pia, named by the Danish met office, began battering the UK early on Thursday morning with high winds.
The RAC estimated up to 2.2 million could be on the road on Thursday but fallen trees and high winds made driving treacherous in places.
A yellow weather warning for strong winds was issued by the Met Office until 3pm on Thursday across the whole of Scotland, Northern Ireland, parts of north Wales, and northern and central England.
Stephen Dixon, a Met Office spokesman, said: “It is quite a wide wind warning area. Gusts are forecast quite widely to be 45mph to 55mph, possibly 65mph to 70mph to the east of high ground in Scotland.
“The strongest winds are likely to be found in the north and north-east of Scotland, including the Northern Isles, with 70mph to 80mph in the morning.”
Gusts of 81mph were recorded at Brizlee Wood, near Alnwick, Northumberland, and at Baltasound on Shetland.
A second weather warning for snow and ice was issued by the Met Office from 3pm on Thursday until 10am on Saturday for Shetland.
The misery was compounded for rail passengers when it emerged an unexpected strike by French workers at Eurotunnel resulted in the complete interruption of services through the Channel Tunnel, with the closure of terminals in France and the UK.
Train operator Eurostar said in a post on X, formerly Twitter: “We would recommend postponing your journey if you can, even if it’s until tomorrow.”
Getlink, the firm which operates the Channel Tunnel, told Reuters that trade unions had rejected a bonus payment of €1,000 (around £870) announced by management, demanding the amount to be trebled.
On the roads, the Police Service of Northern Ireland told people to be aware of the potential for falling trees and debris.
A statement said: “Road users are advised of potential traffic disruption this morning, Thursday 21 December, caused by fallen trees and debris in some areas across Northern Ireland.
“Officers have been assisting with traffic control whilst local roads are being cleared of any obstructions, and we thank you for your patience as we continue to do so.”
Derbyshire Police said one man had to be taken to hospital due to a fallen tree and a collision on the A515 at Clifton, while a lorry overturned on the Barton Bridge on the M60 in Greater Manchester.
In Scotland, Western Ferries suspended its services across the Firth of Clyde and CalMac cancelled 12 of its routes with disruption expected to some of the others.
Stena Line cancelled its Belfast and Cairnryan in Scotland services until after 3.30pm on Thursday.
P&O Ferries Freight cancelled sailings between Larne in Northern Ireland and Cairnryan in Scotland between 8am and 4pm due to the weather.
And ferries due to sail from Stromness on Orkney were cancelled until Friday, while those due to arrive and depart Kirkwall on Orkney, and Lerwick on Shetland, were expected to be significantly delayed.
British Airways said it had adjusted its schedule due to the weather: “As a result of air traffic control restrictions put in place because of Storm Pia, we have had to make some adjustments to our schedule today.
“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.”
Footage posted on social media revealed flights struggling to land at Birmingham and Manchester airports.
Aviation analytics service Cirium told i more than 150 flights to and from the UK had been cancelled by lunchtime on Thursday.
This included 89 UK departures out of 2,417 flights and 79 UK arrivals out of 2,415 on the schedule – a total of 168 cancellations.
Northern Powergrid said 40,000 households had suffered disruption to power supplies in the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire due to the storm.
The National Grid said its engineers were working to restore power in the Midlands, parts of Somerset, Devon and Pontypridd in Wales.
A post from the National Grid on X read: “Engineering teams are urgently responding to power cuts in the Midlands today caused by strong winds from Storm Pia. “
Engineers from Electricity North West were also working to restore power to almost 3,000 homes in Lancashire and Cumbria after high winds damaged infrastructure.
Schools in Shetland were shut for the day and more electricity network engineers were brought in to deal with any power cuts.
Elsewhere, Christmas markets in Liverpool and Sheffield had to close on Thursday due to the weather conditions.
Chester Zoo remained closed to the public for the day “for the safety of our staff, visitors and the animals under our care”.
The National Trust said its venue in Suffolk, Sutton Hoo, would not open due to high winds.
And in Sheffield the city council said a roof was blown off a section of a block of flats as the storm raged.
Weather warnings for snow and ice are in place for Shetland and northern Scotland from Friday and into the weekend, with up to 10-15cm expected on higher ground in the Highlands, before milder air brings rain on Saturday.
Scotland and northern England will also be hit by persistent rain and showers in the wake of Storm Pia, forecasters said.
