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.
Image: 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.”
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Image: Eurostar trains have been cancelled
Image: 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.
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Gusts of up to 75mph could hit parts of the south of England and Waleson Saturday, the Met Office warned, while northern Scotlandcould 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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1:02
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.”
Image: Snow falls covering the roads and footpaths in the Shawlands area of Glasgow
Image: SSEN teams carrying out repairs. Pic: SSEN
Storm Gerrit
It comes after much of the UK was impacted by Storm Gerrit.
Counter-terrorism police are investigating after an incident involving a crossbow and a firearm left two women injured in Leeds.
Police were called to Otley Road at 2.47pm on Saturday to reports of a “serious incident involving a man seen with weapons”, West Yorkshire Police said.
Officers arrived at the scene to find two women injured – and a 38-year-old man with a self-inflicted injury. All three were taken to hospital, with the man held under arrest, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
“Two weapons have been recovered from the scene, which were a crossbow and a firearm,” Counter Terrorism Policing North East said in a statement.
The incident happened on the ‘Otley Run’ pub crawl, with one venue saying it was closed for the evening due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
Image: Officers guard one of the crime scenes
Image: Officers inside the cordon in Leeds
Counter Terrorism Policing’s statement added: “Due to the circumstances surrounding the incident, Counter Terrorism Policing North East have taken responsibility for leading the investigation with the support of West Yorkshire Police.
“Extensive enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances and explore any potential motivation.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described it as a “serious violent incident” and said she was being kept updated by police.
“Thank you to the police and emergency services for their swift response,” she said. “My thoughts are with the victims and all those affected by this attack.”
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Wrexham AFC have been promoted for the third season in a row.
The North Wales-based side has gone from the National League to the Championship in just three seasons, under its Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Wrexham were second in the table and had a run of eight games unbeaten ahead of their match against Charlton Athletic on Saturday, which they won 3-0.
Image: Wrexham’s James McClean lifts the League One trophy. Pic: PA
Image: Wrexham’s Dan Scarr celebrates with the fans on the pitch after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA
It is the first time any club has been promoted for three consecutive seasons within the top five tiers of English football.
The third oldest association football club in the world, Wrexham AFC was bought by Reynolds and McElhenney in 2020, and has since been the subject of a Disney+ documentary, Welcome To Wrexham.
Reynolds, wearing a Wrexham sweatshirt, and McElhenney were pictured celebrating each goal, and after the game, as the fans came onto the pitch at the SToK Cae Ras (Racecourse Ground) to celebrate the victory with the players.
Image: Wrexham co-owners Rob McElhenney (L) and Ryan Reynolds and Ryan’s wife Blake Lively, before the match. Pic: PA
Both stars came onto the pitch after the supporters returned to the stands.
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Speaking to Sky Sports, McElhenney praised those behind the scenes, referring to “so many that don’t get the credit they deserve, people who aren’t talked about”.
Reynolds said bringing success back to the club “seemed like an impossible dream” when they arrived in North Wales in 2020.
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Image: Wrexham’s Sam Smith celebrates in front of the fans after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA
He put the three promotions down to “the coaching staff, the greatest dressing room” and an “all for one, one for all” attitude throughout the club, adding he was “speechless with their commitment and their emotion”.
As for the mouth-watering prospect of another promotion to the promised land of the Premier League, the pair agreed it was “for tomorrow”, before ending the interview with a joint mic-drop.
Veteran striker Steven Fletcher said, “as soon as I came to this club, I knew it was something special. We want to go again. We’ll reset in the summer, take a break and go again”.
Just Stop Oil (JSO) insists it’s been “successful” – as its members ceremoniously hang up their orange high-vis vests during a march in central London.
Since the group formed three years ago, it’s drawn attention and criticism for its colourful, controversial protests, which ranged from disrupting sporting events to throwing soup on Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers, and climbing on gantries over the M25. It sprayed orange paint over Stonehenge, and cost police forces tens of millions of pounds.
Those days are now behind it; to the relief of many.
As a few hundred activists marched through London on Saturday, blocking roads as they went; taxi drivers blared their horns and football fans shouted abuse from the pavement.
The PA News Agency filmed the moment a white minivan seemed to drive towards a group of protesters blocking the road.
Protesters shouted “I’m being pushed back!” to police, while the driver could be heard shouting “What about my right to get home?” to the officers gathered.
But JSO never set out to be popular. And it believes its tactics – though hated – have been successful; thanks to the new Labour government’s commitment to not issue new oil or gas exploration licences.
That’s why, it says, its ceasing direct action.
Image: JSO hangs up its high-vis jackets in central London on Saturday
Image: A washing line of high-vis jackets signifies JSO’s disbanding
“This moment marks the success of the JSO campaign – our demand was to end new oil and gas licences and that is now government policy.
“As a result of which four billion barrels of oil are being kept under the North Sea. The campaign has reached a natural end.”
Dr Oscar Berglund, senior lecturer in international public and social policy, disagrees that JSO is disappearing because it’s been “successful”.
He told Sky News policing strength and public perception might have more to do with it.
“They have very low levels of popularity. About 17% of the British population are kind of broadly supportive of what Just Stop Oil do. And that’s too low to recruit.
“It’s difficult to recruit members to something that is that unpopular, and then that a lot of people for good reason I think have kind of stopped believing in that kind of disruption as a means to achieve meaningful change.”
Group triggers specific new protest laws
One thing it did change is the law.
Policing commentator Graham Wettone tells us: “Obstruction of the highway, obstruction of rail networks for example, these are specific offences now.
“It’s given the police more tactics, more methods, more offences they can consider, even stopping and searching somebody who may have something to either lock themselves on or glue themselves to something.”
Image: A JSO activist holds a picture of an imprisoned colleague
Emma Smart was held in prison for her activism with both Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil.
“The high-vis might be going away,” she tells me, “but we aren’t.”
“These people aren’t going anywhere, we are still committed, dedicated, terrified by the failings of this government and governments around the world.”
Image: JSO activists throw orange paint at van Gogh’s sunflowers
Image: Orange smoke set off by JSO protesters at Stonehenge
She hopes for a time of reflection before it returns in a new form but says the need for climate activism is stronger than ever.
She also believes that while most people dislike JSO tactics, it still raises awareness of the cause and might even push people to more moderate campaign groups.
Just Stop Oil came behind other, similarly controversial climate campaign groups like Insulate Britain and Extinction Rebellion, and as it says goodbye, its disruptive methods have been seized upon by other organisations like the Pro-Palestinian Youth Justice.
The infamous Just Stop Oil orange vests might be going away, but the individual activists, their cause and campaign tactics feel here to stay.