Storm Eowyn live: ‘Stay at home’ warning issued as 114mph winds pose threat to life

While trains in England south of Preston and York are running, disruption from Storm Eowyn is hitting tens of thousands of commuters.

East Midlands Railway says: “There are trees blocking the railway between Sheffield and Stockport and between Manchester Oxford Road and Warrington Central. We are currently unable to run most of our trains between Sheffield and Liverpool.

South Western Railway says: “All lines from Hook towards Basingstoke are blocked by a tree.”

National Rail says: “Strong winds can blow trees into infrastructure, damaging the overhead lines that power electric trains. The winds can mean it’s unsafe to carry out repairs at height – or with certain machinery until the winds have dropped. Trains may have to run at a reduced speed causing delays to your journey.”

Train operator Northern said many of its routes are closed because of severe weather.

Some lines are blocked between Manchester Oxford Road and Warrington Central because of a fallen tree.

Services on these routes are also being disrupted by severe weather: Between Bradford Forster Square and Ilkley; Bradford Forster Square and Skipton; Leeds and Bradford Forster Square; Leeds and Ilkley; and Leeds and Skipton.

National Highways says: “The M48 Severn Bridge in South Gloucestershire is closed in both directions between J1 (Aust) and J2 (Chepstow) due to strong winds associated with Storm Eowyn. Traffic is being diverted via the M4 Prince of Wales Bridge. This bridge is fully open to all traffic.

“The A66 between North Yorkshire (A1M) and Cumbria (M6) is closed in both directions to all vehicles due to strong winds associated with Storm Eowyn.

“The A628 Woodhead Pass in Derbyshire/South Yorkshire is closed to all vehicles in both directions between the A616 (Flouch) and the A57 (Hollingworth).

“Road users travelling across the Pennines are advised to plan ahead and seek alternate routes.”

Police Scotland has advised the public to avoid travel on the roads in the red weather warning area.

More than four million people across Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland have received emergency alerts on their phones in the “largest real life use of the tool to date”, the Government said.

The emergency alert system sent a message to every compatible mobile phone in areas covered by a red weather warning for wind and guidance on how to stay safe.

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Hundreds of flights to, from and within the northern half of the UK have been cancelled ahead of the extreme winds brought by Storm Eowyn. The key airports affected are Edinburgh with around 90 cancellations; Glasgow with 66; Aberdeen with 44; and Belfast City with 50. Belfast International, City of Derry and Inverness add another 40 cancellations.

Grounded flights include Emirates between Glasgow and Dubai, and Qatar Airways between Edinburgh and Doha. Both flights would have been carrying hundreds of passengers to the Gulf, many with onward connections to Asia, Africa and Australia.

Ryanair has grounded links from the Scottish capital to Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Malaga and Venice.

In total, The Independent estimates that about 30,000 passengers have had their flight plans wrecked because of the extreme weather.

Under air passengers’ rights rules, travellers whose flights are grounded are entitled to be flown as soon as possible to their destination, and provided with meals and – if necessary – hotels while they are waiting.

Jet2 has delayed rather cancelled holiday flights, with one Glasgow-Rome flight held for 16 hours. Passengers are now expected to arrive in the Italian capital in the early hours of Saturday morning rather than at lunchtime on Friday.