Key events
Roads, rail and ferries hit by Storm Bert travel disruptions
Storm Bert has begun to make an impact in the UK with snow closing roads and strong rains and winds expected to cause further travel disruption and potential flooding.
Here are some of the travel disruptions reported so far by the PA news agency:
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In Scotland, there will be speed restrictions on the West Highland Line, Highland Mainline, Stranraer line, Glasgow South western Line, Far North Line, and West Coast Mainline between Carstairs and the border.
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ScotRail has withdrawn services from Inverness to Elgin, Aberdeen to Inverurie, and Glasgow Queen Street to Oban while trains from Glasgow Central to Carlisle will terminate at Dumfries.
South Western Rail (SWR) asked passengers to only travel west of Basingstoke if their journeys are essential. -
SWR announced services between Exeter and London Waterloo will start and finish at Basingstoke, that journey times will be longer between Salisbury and Exeter and between Bournemouth and Weymouth due to speed restrictions, and services across its network will start later than usual on Sunday and Monday because of safety inspections.
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TransPennine Express “strongly” urged customers not to travel north of Carlisle on Saturday while Avanti West Coast advised passengers not to travel north of Preston – including Lancaster, Oxenholme, Penrith, Carlisle, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
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National Highways issued a “severe weather alert” for snow affecting Yorkshire and north-east England between 5am and 3pm on Saturday.
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In Yorkshire, the A628 remained closed overnight in both directions between the A616 Hollingworth and the A57 Flouch due to snow, National Highways announced.
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The A66 Trans-Pennine route was closed between the A6 and the M6 (J40).
UK airports are not anticipating disruption. A spokesperson for Birmingham airport said:
“Whilst we are not anticipating disruption at this time … we will continue to keep a close eye on the situation, as Storm Bert moves in.”
Manchester airport said “we’re expecting bad weather but aren’t anticipating any disruption” while Newcastle airport said it will be operating as normal overnight with teams “fully prepared to respond should conditions deteriorate”.
Met Office warn of ‘multiple hazard event’ as Storm Bert to bring snow, ice, heavy rain and strong winds to the UK
New national severe weather warnings have been issued for the weekend by the Met Office as Storm Bert has begun to make an impact with snow closing roads and strong rains and winds expected to cause further travel disruption and potential flooding.
Weather warnings and 16 flood alerts have come into effect across the UK, as the Met Office described the forecasted weather as a “multiple hazard event” due to Storm Bert binging with it snow, ice, heavy rain and gale force winds.
Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern said:
We’ll see two to four hours of heavy snow across parts of northern England and Scotland during Saturday morning. This snow will accumulate thick and fast, with five to 10cm at lower levels and as much as 20 to 40cm over hills accompanied by strong winds.
You can expect blizzards over hills across northern England and Scotland, atrocious conditions for travelling and going over the hills and also the risk of power interruptions because of snow build up on power lines.
So all in all, a multiple hazard event as we go into Saturday morning.”
The PA news agency reports that rail companies urged passengers to avoid travelling to certain areas and some warned of reduced services while National Highways issued a “severe weather alert” for snow affecting Yorkshire and north-east England between 5am and 3pm on Saturday.
In Yorkshire, the A628 remained closed overnight in both directions, while ferry operator CalMac – which serves the west coast of Scotland – has cancelled several sailings on Saturday with disruption expected on many other services.
McGivern also stressed that temperatures will rise quickly as the storm brings with it milder air from the Atlantic, resulting in a “rapid thaw” by the afternoon.
The meteorologist said:
The melting snow and the heavy rain could lead to localised flooding in places but the wettest spots would be Wales, in the south-west, particularly over south-facing hills, that’s where we’re likely to see gales and certainly the risk of impacts from wind as well as from rain.”
