Storm Gerrit causes Christmas chaos as train smashes into tree, drivers stuck in snow and 27,000 left without power

27 December 2023, 17:52 | Updated: 27 December 2023, 21:30

Storm Gerrit has caused chaos on Wednesday, with a train crashing into a tree, drivers stranded in snow on their way home from Christmas, and tens of thousands without power.

Roads, railways, air travel and football matches have all been disrupted by the storm, as well as the power outages - which authorities warned could continue for days.

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.

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

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

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.

The road reopened fully later in the evening.

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

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.

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

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

Railway lines between Lockerbie in Scotland and Carlisle in north-west England were blocked because of flooding.

Avanti West Coast advised passengers not to attempt to travel north of Preston in Lancashire.

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

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."

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

SSEN said as of 4.30pm on Wednesday 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.

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 for the rest of the day.

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

ScotRail has scrapped all trains between Inverness and Kyle of Lochalsh until January 3 due to Highland flooding, while speed restrictions were announced for nine routes, including Edinburgh or Aberdeen and Inverness, Edinburgh and Perth or Dundee, and Glasgow Queen Street, Oban or Mallaig.

In Wales, trains between Llandudno and Blaenau Ffestiniog were scrapped, while there are late start-up services from Shrewsbury to Swansea and Llandrindod. Floods between Hereford and Leominster have also caused delays.

The storm's disruption compounds other problems, including disruption to Southeastern services between London and Kent due to overrunning engineering works.

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