The government issued an emergency “risk to life” alert brought on by Storm Darragh this morning, after the Met Office announced a rare red warning for wind in parts of Wales and South West England.
People have been urged to avoid driving and “stay indoors if you can”, with over 20,000 homes currently without power and winds of up to 92mph recorded in North Wales overnight.
Roads around the country have been shut, including the Prince of Wales bridge, M4 and the Severn Bridge, M48, the QEII Bridge at Dartford Crossing and the A5 in the West Midlands due to the extreme weather conditions.
The weather warning is in place from 3am to 11pm today, with a separate amber warning covering most the UK’s west coast from southern Scotland to Cornwall and Northern Ireland in place until 9pm.
Storm Darragh is also causing significant problems across the country’s railway lines, with Network Rail Wales suspending all services west of Cardiff due to trees on the line.
And disruption is also expected on other networks, with National Rail urging customers to check their journey immediately before setting off and Chiltern Railways urging people to only travel if absolutely necessary.
Chiltern Railways will be running a reduced timetable amid today’s bad weather, with “significant disruption” expected for almost all services. Customers with tickets for Saturday will be able to use them on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday instead, the operator has said.
Alongside network-wide cancellations, some delays and disruption are expected on London Northwestern and West Midlands Railway routes. Trees blocking the line are also causing delays to South Western Railway services including between Salisbury and Tisbury and Farnham and Aldershot.
A spokesperson for National Rail said: “We strongly advise you to avoid travelling if you can. Trains are running, but there is major disruption, and you may be heavily delayed or experience severe overcrowding.”
Passengers can check whether they will be impacted on the journey planner. If your train has been cancelled or delayed, you may be entitled to compensation – find out here.
– Avanti West Coast services between Holyhead and Chester have been suspended with no rail replacement transport provided.
– An object “caught on the overhead electric wires” in Wolverhampton has caused delays and cancellations until around 12pm.
– A reduced timetable of one train per hour is operating on each route across Chiltern Railways all day on Saturday.
– CrossCountry services from Edinburgh to Glasgow Central/Aberdeen, Newcastle to Reading, Cambridge and Stansted Airport and Gloucester and Cardiff Central have been cancelled.
– Great Western Railway services have been suspended on the following routes: Cardiff and Carmarthen, Exeter St Davids and Barnstaple/Okehampton, Liskeard and Looe, Plymouth and Gunnislake/Penzance, St Erth and St Ives, Truro and Falmouth Docks and Twyford and Henley-on-Thames.
– Damage from a fallen tree is causing delays and cancellations on Northern services between Liverpool Lime Street and Warrington Central.
– Scotrail routes between Aberdeen and Inverurie and between Inverness and Elgin have been suspended.
– The lines between Shrewsbury and Chester/Birmingham International are also closed all day today.