Commuter chaos as Storm Herminia sweeps UK - with more than 40 flood warnings, heavy rain and 80mph wind forecast

27 January 2025, 08:52 | Updated: 27 January 2025, 09:10

Brits are bracing themselves for more stormy weather as Storm Herminia threatens to bring travel chaos for commuters and flood warnings to large parts of England and Wales.

A series of yellow warnings for wind and rain have been issued with more than 40 flood warnings in place, as three inches of rain are expected to hit and 70mph gusts of wind.

The Environment Agency issued 173 flood alerts and 51 warnings across England, with 15 alerts issued by Natural Resources Wales has 15 alerts and two alerts in Scotland.

Commuters are facing problems on the roads and railways with multiple transport networks already announcing disruption and changes to timetables - with passengers advised to check before travel.

The Met Office added lightning strikes and hail could make road conditions dangerous.

Power cuts could also be possible, particularly in remote areas which are prone to being cut off.

After a Met Office warning for rain over parts of Wales and central, southern and northern England, ran until 6am on Monday, there was little respite with much of the same area under a 24-hour warning for strong and gusty winds from the same time.

A warning for periods of heavy rain that could cause some flooding of roads and properties was in place for the West Midlands and most of Wales until 11.59pm on Monday with the Met Office predicting 20mm to 40mm to fall quite widely and 50mm to 70mm on higher ground.

Okehampton in Devon had 35.8mm of rain on Sunday, while an 83mph gust was recorded in Berry Head, south Devon, and 81mph in Capelcurig, North Wales.

A yellow wind warning was in place until 7am on Monday for large parts of southern England, the North West, the West Midlands and Yorkshire.

Flooding saw stretches of the A36 and A303 closed in Devon and Wiltshire overnight, while National Rail said services were running normally between Taunton and Castle Cary after flooding.

Most of the 40 flood warnings, where flooding is expected, issued by the Environment Agency cover the south west and south coast, the two warnings issued by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

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National Rail is advising commuters to check before they travel - specifically for those using ScotRail, Transport for Wales, CrossCountry, LNER, Avanti West Coast and TransPennine Express services.

Scotland is recovering from the effects of Storm Eowyn.

ScotRail said engineers had made "great progress" in removing debris and repairing damage, but several lines were unlikely to reopen for the start of services on Monday.

The Largs to Adrossan line will not reopen on Monday after an overhead gantry was brough down by a falling tree.

Avanti West Coast said services to and from Glasgow and Edinburgh had resumed, but warned of late starts and possible delays on Scottish routes.

Northern Ireland Electricity Networks said around 74,000 customers remained without power at the end of Sunday following Storm Eowyn, while the Northern Powergrid said teams were working to reconnect more than 150 customers overnight.

Ben Lukey, a flood duty manager at the Environment Agency, said: "Although not expected, impacts could include localised flooding from watercourses, drains, channels and flooding from overland flow.

A wet and windy spell arrived in the South West on Sunday morning and was moving across the north of the UK overnight.

Met Office meteorologist Marco Petagna said: "Things are going to stay unsettled in the next few days. We're getting successive spells of wet and windy weather, which is obviously adding to impacts.

While not as powerful as Storm Eowyn, a low-pressure system was named Storm Herminia by meteorologists in Spain which was expected to feel the strongest winds.

The Met Office said Monday is expected to see showers, turning heavy in the south alongside strong, gale-force winds, with snow on the hills in the north.

Gales are expected to ease slowly in the South West overnight but pick up in the far north.

Tuesday is forecast to see further heavy showers in the south with a risk of thunder. Longer spells of rain in the North West as expected to ease later.

The wet and windy weather will remain in the south on Wednesday more settled conditions will be present later in the week.