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Festive travel plans were plunged into chaos for thousands as Storm Gerrit brought gales and icy downpours which flooded homes and closed both major railway routes into Scotland, while drivers were left trapped for hours in their cars on snow-covered roads.
Much of the disrupton warned of in eight Met Office weather alerts in force across the UK came to pass on Wednesday, as 87mph gusts of wind pulled huge trees from their roots onto roads, rail lines and at least one home, while residents in dozens of locations were told to brace for floods.
And for those still celebrating, belated Christmas dinner plans were scuppered, tree lights darkened and heating switched off as outages cut power to 8,600 homes at lunchtime, the Energy Networks Association told The Independent.
The railway line at Bowling station was completely submerged
(Getty Images)
Thousands saw their travel plans cast into disarray, as the storm knocked out ferry services and major rail and road arteries, with huge crowds left stranded at London King’s Cross after the East Coast main line to Edinburgh was flooded, blocking travel beyond Newcastle.
The western rail artery into Scotland was also blocked by flooding – hitting services between Edinburgh and Birmingham, and Glasgow and Manchester Airport. Later on Wednesday, Avanti West Coast told all passengers not to travel north of Preston.
And at 4pm, with cross-border rail travel already halted, ScotRail announced it was suspending all services north of Perth and Dundee, with trains already on the move ordered to return to stations – hitting travellers across most of the country.
Further south, the main line between St Pancras and Luton was closed due to a signalling fault, with all East Midlands Railway trains cancelled.
Air travel was also hit, with at least 18 British Airways flights cancelled at London Heathrow due to the storm, to both domestic and European destinations.
Cars were stuck on the A9 at Drumochter after heavy snowfall
(Traffic Scotland)
By 3:30pm, nearly 80mm of rainfall had already fallen in the Cumbrian valley of Mickleden, Met Office meteorologist Greg Dewhurst told The Independent, while strong gale-force gusts of 86mph were recorded on Scotland’s northeast coast.
The forecaster said at least 5 to 10cm of snow appeared to have fallen on higher ground in the Highlands, where scores of unlucky motorists were trapped for hours in their cars on the A9 as snow blanketed the major route at Drumochter.
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