Warning of winter storms battering Britain coming 'thick and fast' as UK wakes up to night of Storm Henk destruction

3 January 2024, 08:44

Storm Henk has left a trail of carnage as the UK wakes up to travel disruption.

Storm Henk brought travel chaos on Tuesday, and problems on the railways are expected to continue through Wednesday.

Environment journalist Nathan Rao spoke to Nick Ferrari. He said that Storm Henk "Came through without much warning actually, we usually get more warnings for storms.

"But it sort of bubbled up only within a couple of hours of the met office issuing their warning."

Weather Journalist Nathan Rao joins Nick Ferrari on Storm Henk

Storm Henk is the 8th named storm of the current winter storm season. Mr Rao said: "it does seem to be that they’re coming one after the other thick and fast".

He recognised: "It's nothing really unusual. We do have storms, it is after all winter" but he said "there's been more extreme stuff happening" with storms over the last 8 years.

On Wednesday morning, there is 1 severe flood warning for River Nene at Billing Aquadrome.

There are 333 flood warnings across England, 8 flood warnings across Wales and 1 in Scotland.

The weather is set to improve in the rest of the week, but problems stemming from Tuesday's bad weather remain on some railway lines.

Trees and branches falling on train lines and roads cause a lot of disruption until the debris can be cleared.

The clean-up process for Storm Henk is continuing into Wednesday.

Read more: Exact date snow blast to sweep UK as Met Office issues 'danger to life' warning due to Storm Henk

Read more: Breakfast of champions? Teen darts star Luke Littler reveals daily diet that has powered him to World Championship final

A joint statement from South Western Railway and Network Rail on X, formerly Twitter, said on Wednesday morning that disruptions linked to the storm will continue throughout the day.

Thameslink said there were "multiple weather-related incidents across the entire network" on Tuesday. The severe weather was due to impact the service until 10am on Wednesday.

Greater Anglia has put Do Not Travel warnings on two of its routes:

• Cambridge North – Ely
• Ipswich – Norwich, Cambridge, and Peterborough in both directions

Network Rail recommends that people always check their journey before they travel.

The strongest gales were recorded at the Needles Old Battery in the Isle of Wight, where wind speeds reached 94mph. Gusts of 81mph were reached at Exeter Airport in Devon, and top winds hit 71mph at the Isle of Portland in Dorset and also at Mumbles Head in Glamorgan.

A woman who was crushed by a fallen tree in Orpington, was rushed to hospital with injuries that are not thought to be life-threatening.

She was hit by the tree and trapped underneath it just after 3pm on Station Approach, on Tuesday.