UK weather: Eurostar trains from London cancelled after tunnel floods – as UK braces for more extreme conditions
Eurostar trains to and from London have been cancelled as more extreme weather in the wake of Storm Gerrit disrupts travel plans.
No high-speed services are expected to run between Ebbsfleet International, in Kent, and London St Pancras International today because a tunnel under the Thames is flooded.
UK weather: The latest Sky News forecast
A railway tunnel has flooded near Ebbsfleet International Station. Pic: Southeastern Rail
Eurostar, which runs services from London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, said all 41 trains to and from the capital on Saturday have been cancelled.
The operator said it was “extremely sorry” after thousands of people were left stranded at St Pancras and advised people not to travel to the station.
Simon Calder, travel editor for The Independent, told Sky News: “Many desperate people are paying hundreds of pounds for flights, others are planning to get the bus.”
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Eurostar travellers on travel chaos
Newlyweds Christopher and Nicole Carrera had planned to spend New Year’s Eve at Disneyland Paris but their plans have been thrown into chaos by the cancellations.
Mrs Carrera, from New York, said: “We’ve been in London since Wednesday and we wanted to leave today because we were actually supposed to go to Disney Paris tomorrow for New Year’s Eve.
“So obviously those plans our ruined because now we won’t get into Paris tomorrow until about 6pm. So we’re just going to walk around the city (Paris) tomorrow when we get there and finally get to our hotel. It’s just one of those things.”
Eurostar trains have been cancelled
Nicole Carrera’s plans to visit Disneyland Paris have hit a roadblock
The flooding, in a tunnel near Ebbsfleet International, is also disrupting Southeastern Railway trains and the operator’s managing director Steve White said there is “no timescale” for when the problem will be fixed.
A Thames Water spokesperson said the flooding is believed to have been caused by a fire control system rather than one of its pipes, although a technician has been sent “to offer support to control the flow of water”.
Engineers working on the tunnel said water levels are reducing, but warned the volume of water in the tunnel is “unprecedented”.
There was also major disruption to Thameslink services through London and across the South East due to “a shortage of train crew” which will continue into Sunday, the operator said.
Speed restrictions are in place on the West Highland Lines until 9am on Sunday due to the forecast, Network Rail Scotland said.
More weather warnings issued
Gusts of up to 75mph could hit parts of the south of England and Wales on Saturday, the Met Office warned, while northern Scotland could see “significant snow”.
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UK braces for more extreme conditions
A yellow weather alert for wind has been issued for parts of the South East, South West, East Anglia and Wales from 11am on Saturday until 3am on New Year’s Eve.
A separate yellow warning for rain has been issued across part of Wales between 10am and 6pm on Saturday.
In Scotland, a yellow weather warning is in place for much of the country for rain and snow until midnight.
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A plane struggling to land during Storm Gerrit
The Environment Agency has issued more than 30 flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, and almost 100 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible, in England.
‘Difficult day to travel’
Meteorologist Craig Snell said it will be a “difficult day to travel”.
“It’s going to be another unsettled day. We’ve got heavy rain moving across the north west of the country, with snow falling in higher areas of Scotland,” he said.
“Rain will move across the rest of the UK tonight.
“We’re likely to see gusts of 50mph in Wales and southern England, with the most exposed areas getting wind speeds of 65-75mph.
“There could be some road closures if branches come off trees.”
Snow falls covering the roads and footpaths in the Shawlands area of Glasgow
SSEN teams carrying out repairs. Pic: SSEN
Storm Gerrit
It comes after much of the UK was impacted by Storm Gerrit.
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks said it had restored power to almost 48,000 homes since the storm hit.
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‘Disappointed’ Eurostar passengers in France face delays
In Wales, 36,000 properties have also contended with outages after lightning struck in Ceredigion.
And in Greater Manchester, residents in Stalybridge, Tameside, and Carrbrook are still recovering from a freak tornado that toppled trees and damaged homes.
The whirlwind was thought to have been caused by a supercell thunderstorm.
UK
Teenager living in ‘continuous pain’ after surgeon Dr Yaser Jabbar carried out ‘inappropriate’ operations
A 15-year-old boy who was operated on twice by a now unlicensed Great Ormond Street surgeon is living with “continuous” pain.
Finias Sandu has been told by an independent review the procedures he underwent on both his legs were “unacceptable” and “inappropriate” for his age.
The teenager from Essex was born with a condition that causes curved bones in his legs.
Aged seven, a reconstructive procedure was carried out on Finias’s left leg, lengthening the limb by 3.5cm.
A few years later, the same operation was carried out on his right leg which involved wearing an invasive and heavy metal frame for months.
He has now been told by independent experts these procedures should not have taken place and concerns have been raised over a lack of imaging being taken prior to the operations.
Yaser Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence last year. Pic: LinkedIn
His doctor at London’s prestigious Great Ormond Street Hospital was former consultant orthopaedic surgeon Yaser Jabbar. Sky News has spoken to others he treated.
Mr Jabbar also did not arrange for updated scans or for relevant X-rays to be conducted ahead of the procedures.
The surgeries have been found to have caused Finias “harm” and left him in constant pain.
“The pain is there every day, every day I’m continuously in pain,” he told Sky News.
“It’s not something really sharp, although it does get to a certain point where it hurts quite a lot, but it’s always there. It just doesn’t leave, it’s a companion to me, just always there.”
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Finias’s surgery pictures
Care of over 700 patients being assessed
Mr Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence in January last year after working at Great Ormond Street between 2017 and 2022.
The care of his 700-plus patients is being assessed, with some facing corrective surgery, among them Finias.
“Trusting somebody is hard to do, knowing what they have done to me physically and emotionally, you know, it’s just too much to comprehend for me,” he said.
“It wasn’t something just physically, like my leg pain and everything else. It was emotionally, because I put my trust in that specific doctor. My parents and I don’t really understand the more scientific terms, we just went by what he said.”
Doctors refused to treat Finias because of his surgeries
Finias and his family relocated to their native Romania soon after the reconstructive frame was removed from his right leg in the summer of 2021.
The pain worsened and they sought advice from doctors in Romania, who refused to treat Finias because of the impact of his surgeries.
Dozens of families seeking legal claims
His mother Cornelia Sandu is “furious” and feels her trust in the hospital has been shattered. They are now among dozens of families seeking legal claims.
Cyrus Plaza from Hudgell Solicitors is representing the family. He said: “In cases where it has been identified that harm was caused, we want to see Great Ormond Street Hospital agreeing to pay interim payments of compensation for the children, so that if they need therapy or treatment now, they can access it.”
Finias is accessing therapy and mental health support as he prepares for corrective surgery later in the year.
A spokesperson for Great Ormond Street Hospital told Sky News: “We are deeply sorry to Finias and his family, and all the patients and families who have been impacted.
“We want every patient and family who comes to our hospital to feel safe and cared for. We will always discuss concerns families may have and, where they submit claims, we will work to ensure the legal process can be resolved as quickly as possible.”
Finias with his mother and sister
Service not ‘safe for patients’
Sky News has attempted to contact Mr Jabbar.
An external review into the wider orthopaedic department at the hospital began in September 2022.
It was commissioned after the Royal College of Surgeons warned the hospital’s lower limb reconstruction service was not “safe for patients or adequate to meet demand”.
The investigation is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Sir Keir Starmer has said closer ties with the EU will be good for the UK’s jobs, bills and borders ahead of a summit where he could announce a deal with the bloc.
The government is set to host EU leaders in London on Monday as part of its efforts to “reset” relations post-Brexit.
A deal granting the UK access to a major EU defence fund could be on the table, according to reports – but disagreements over a youth mobility scheme and fishing rights could prove to be a stumbling block.
The prime minister has appeared to signal a youth mobility deal could be possible, telling The Times that while freedom of movement is a “red line”, youth mobility does not come under this.
His comment comes after Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, said on Friday work on a defence deal was progressing but “we’re not there yet”.
Sir Keir met European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen later that day while at a summit in Albania.
Ursula von der Leyen and Sir Keir had a brief meeting earlier this week. Pic: PA
If agreed, the deal will be the third in two weeks, following trade agreements with India and the US.
Sir Keir said: “First India, then the United States – in the last two weeks alone that’s jobs saved, faster growth and wages rising.
“More money in the pockets of British working people, achieved through striking deals not striking poses.
“Tomorrow, we take another step forward, with yet more benefits for the United Kingdom as the result of a strengthened partnership with the European Union.”
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Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said she is “worried” about what the PM might have negotiated.
Ms Badenoch – who has promised to rip up the deal with the EU if it breaches her red lines on Brexit – said: “Labour should have used this review of our EU trade deal to secure new wins for Britain, such as an EU-wide agreement on Brits using e-gates on the continent.
“Instead, it sounds like we’re giving away our fishing quotas, becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again and getting free movement by the back door. This isn’t a reset, it’s a surrender.”
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