Fury as rail services axed amid widespread Storm Gerrit Christmas travel chaos as thousands lose power

27 December 2023, 23:01 | Updated: 28 December 2023, 07:35

Rail passengers have been urged to delay their post-Christmas journeys as Storm Gerrit wreaked havoc on creaking infrastructure, with drivers stranded in snow, flights and ferries cancelled, and tens of thousands left in the cold and dark by power cuts.

Roads, railways, air travel and football matches were all disrupted by the storm, while authorities warned that power outages could continue for 48 hours.

The Met Office issued six yellow weather warnings for wind, rain and snow in southern England, Wales, northern England and large parts of Scotland. Gusts reached 70mph in some places.

Twelve train operators were hit with major disruption on Wednesday, and minor delays affected five more. It comes after chaos also affected the rail network in the lead-up to Christmas.

Delays on Wednesday were largely down to staff absences and engineering works, as well as Storm Gerrit.

LNER, which runs services between London and Scotland on the East Coast Main Line, said customers should not travel due to the weather. Customers stranded by the disruption were told to book hotels which they can claim back. Many would-be LNER passengers were left stranded at King's Cross because of flooding in Scotland.

Avanti West Coast, which operates services on the West Coast Main Line, said its route to Scotland was impassable, with all services to and from London terminating at Preston.

People with pre-booked tickets for travel between Preston and either Edinburgh or Glasgow can board trains on Thursday or Friday, the operator said.

Avanti and LNER also blamed staffing issues for train cancellations elsewhere.

Meanwhile a Scotrail train travelling south from Dundee to Glasgow crashed into a fallen tree, with the front of the train taking a severe hit. Passengers were rescued.

Sharing a photo of the damaged train, Labour MSP Paul Sweeney said the driver was unharmed.

Elsewhere, problems on the network in Kent on Boxing Day were blamed on over-running engineering works, after a new piece of track was found to be the wrong size.

The disruption is set to affect people's journeys back to work after the festive period, and sparked another debate about the state of the country's railways.

Sir Robert Goodwill, the Tory MP and former transport minister, told the Telegraph: “There certainly have been cancellations because drivers are not available. We need to know why that is. Train companies didn’t train enough drivers during the pandemic.

"Also we cannot oblige drivers to work at weekends, which can result in cancelled trains. I’m sure ministers will be briefed about what happened and what can be done to mitigate that. The contracts should be updated to make sure drivers are rostered to work on the weekends, like workers in other sectors."

John Hayes, another former transport minister, said he wondered if cancellations because of bad weather could be an overreaction.

He told the paper: "It does seem that whenever there are any adverse weather conditions the trains stop.

"This is odd and I think it’s gotten worse over the years. It is important for train companies not to overreact to weather.

"It is absolutely right to be cautious and sensible about where we travel and how. But we must try to keep things going if we possibly can and I know ministers will be doing that."

A Department for Transport spokesman said: "While staffing is a matter for industry, we are working with them to ensure they are able to deliver the services that passengers need, making clear that we will hold them to account if they let passengers down."

Louise Haigh, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, said: "After another year of Christmas chaos for passengers, it is clear the Tories have run our railways into the ground.

"Rail users have faced a year of record cancellations and constant delays, yet this Government has refused to lift a finger and do a thing about it.

"Labour will bring our railways back into public ownership, as contracts expire, and ensure services finally work in the interests of the passenger.”

But many people trying to travel on the roads did not escape the chaos.

Drivers reported being stuck in the snow for hours on the A9 road near Inverness in northern Scotland on Wednesday afternoon.

Driver Richard Nasmyth told LBC he was stuck on the road for eight hours, and was left shaken by the experience.

Another driver, Shaun Dellenty, said he had been there for several hours, and had only seen one snowplough.

Bear Scotland, which manages the trunk roads in the area, sent six ploughs and three tractors to the scene.

A spokesperson for Highlands Council said: "A major incident has been declared for A9 due to miles of vehicles stuck in the snow between Drumochter and Dalwhinnie.

"Partner agencies are providing assistance to those trapped, prioritising [the] most vulnerable, and turning vehicles around at north and south of the closure. Conditions are very severe.

"We are advising people not to travel on A9 today between Inverness and Dalwhinnie. Please note – the major incident was declared by police – please refer to Police Scotland for further info.

Inspector Michelle Burns, of Police Scotland's road policing unit, told LBC: "Yellow warnings are in place across the country, and as such conditions for travel in the affected areas may be hazardous, and extra caution should be exercised by all road users.

She added: "There are a number of closures on major roads and bridge restrictions have also been implemented during this period of adverse weather."

The road reopened fully later on Wednesday evening.

Elsewhere the Severn Bridge on the M48 was closed because of strong winds, with traffic diverted to the Prince of Wales bridge on the M4.

Meanwhile, a total of 18 British Airways flights were cancelled at Heathrow amid 70mph gusts, as passengers hoping for a pre-New Year getaway to Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin and Paris saw their journeys scrapped.

It also affected flights from the airport to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Jersey and Manchester.

Read more: Storm Gerrit batters Britain as Met Office warns of floods, power cuts and disruption to post-Christmas travel

"As a result of air traffic control restrictions put in place because of Storm Gerrit, we have had to make some adjustments to our schedule today," a BA spokesperson said.

"We have apologised to our customers for any disruption to their travel plans and our teams are working hard to get them on their way as quickly as possible."

Ferry operator Red Funnel, which provides services between Southampton and Cowes on the Isle of Wight, cancelled its Red Jet passenger services due to strong winds.

Hovercraft services between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight were also suspended.

The storm also led to power cuts at some 27,000 properties in Scotland Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) Distribution said.

By Wednesday night supplies had been restored to around 8,500 properties, with more than 18,500 still cut off.

The company warned some could face 48 hours without power.

Andy Smith, SSEN Distribution operations director, said: "We've been preparing for Storm Gerrit for several days and our teams, bolstered by additional line crews, have been out since first thing this morning in challenging conditions to restore power to our customers.

"Our teams are making good progress, reconnecting almost 8,500 homes, but ongoing adverse weather conditions and challenges with road access means it will take time to complete all repairs. Some customers in rural areas where there are multiple points of damage may be without power until Friday.

"I'd like to reassure our customers we are doing everything we can to restore power as quickly as possible and are working closely with resilience partners to support welfare response. I'd also encourage anyone who may need additional support to contact our dedicated teams on the power cut helpline, 105."

Elsewhere Rangers' Scottish Premiership match with Ross County was postponed because of the conditions on the A9, while Aberdeen's home match against Motherwell on Wednesday evening was also delayed by the bad weather.

The Met Office said that in parts of northern Scotland "around 10 to possibly 20cm of snow may affect some of the highest routes, this combining with very strong winds to lead to some difficult travel conditions. At lower levels a combination of heavy rain and very strong winds will dominate."

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A yellow warning for wind, bringing the possibility of transport disruption, was in place for the south coast and south western coast of England until 6pm on Wednesday.

Most of Wales was issued a heavy rain warning, bringing the possibility of flooding with it, until 6pm, while much of the Welsh western and northern coast, and the coast of North West England, has been issued a wind warning from 6pm until 3am on Thursday.

A heavy rain warning was in place until 6pm for heavy rain across much of the north and parts of the Midlands between Stoke and Nottingham, and a separate one for the same timeframe was issued for South West Scotland.

In the Highlands, a rain and snow alert was issued, lasting until 9pm, while in the western parts of Scotland's high north, a wind warning is in place until the end of the day.

The Shetland Islands have been issued a wind and snow warning for 9pm to 6am.

Gerrit is the seventh named storm of the season, starting with Agnes in September. The most recent was Fergus on December 10.