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

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.”

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.”

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”.

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.

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.”

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.

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.